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REV. E. W. SPRAGUE, 



Was Jesus of Nazareth 

God or Man, Christ 

OR Spirit Medium? 

Let The Bible Decide 



BY 

Rev. E; W. Sprague 

Ex-Missionary of the National Spiritualist Association 
of the United States of America 



Author of : "A Future Life Demonstrated, or 
Forty Years a Public Medium;'* "Spirit Medi- 
umship, Its Various Phases, How Developed 
and Safely Practiced;" "Spirit-Obsession, A 
False Doctrine and a Menace to Modern Spirit- 
ualism, All the Spiritualism of the Christian 
Bible and the Scripture Opposing It;" "Ad- 
ventism and the Devil, an Operi Letter and 
Reply to Evangelist A. V, Cotton's Denuncia- 
tion of Spiritualism;" "False Prophets or 
Fraudulent Mediums of the Christian Bible;" 
' 'Reincarnation — True or False. Are the Theo- 
sophic Claims of Reincarnation Proven by 
Modem Science and the Spiritual Philoso- 
phy?" "Testimony of Leading Scientists and 
Prominent Theologians Who Are Spiritualists;" 
"The Science of Spirit Communion 
Analyzed and Explained." 



'And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"— Jesus 

"Prove all things; holdfast that which is good" — Paul 

"Come now, let us reason together" — Isaiah 



V' 



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Copyright, 1922 

By Rev. E. W. Sprague 

DETROIT. MICH. 



©C!.A674o52 



INDEX 



PAGE 

All His Disciples Doubted Jesus, Forsook Him and 

Fled 142, 143 

Ancient Fraud Hunters 74 

Angels and Spirits the Same 46 

Apostles Have Spirit Guides 68 

Apostles Lost Faith in Jesus and Believed Not 142 

Belief Necessary to Good Results 85 

Christian Basis for Deifying Christ 162 

Christian Creeds 9 

Christs. Was Jesus the Only Christ? , 27 

Communism Practiced by Jesus and Disciples 139 

Compensation of Jesus and Disciples 137 

Contradictory Teachings of Jesus 94 

Converts Sell Possessions, Divide Proceeds 140 

Convert Three Thousand in One Day 140 

Dark Seances 81, 56 

David Forefather of Jesus, Says Angel Gabriel 16 

David Forefather of Jesus, Says Luke 16 

Definitions of Biblical Terms 5, 45, 46, 54 

Deifying Jesus a Colossal Error 42 

Devil. Scribes, Priests and People Accuse Jesus of 

Having a Devil 134 

Devil Was Dumb 113 

Disciples Clairvoyant and Clairaudient, Jesus Says 68 

Disciples Did Not Deify Jesus 23 

Disciples Doubted Him and Believed Not 24 

Disciples the Light of the World 70 

Disciples Well Cared For 138 

Does Raising Dead Prove One*s Deity? -. 166 

Erroneous Methods of Church Propaganda 172 

Evil Spirits Cause Disease, Jesus Taught 113 



PAGE 

FALSE PROPHECIES 

Did Jesus Make False Prophecies? 128 

Paul Believed His Erroneous Prophecies 130 

Jesus Prophesies Apostles Will Occupy the Twelve 

Thrones of Israel 129 

Fig Tree Miracle 132 

Fortune Telling. Was This? IZ 

Genealogies of Jesus Contradictory Z(>, Zl 

He Appeared Again to Two of Them 149 

He Appeared to Simon 149 

He Appeared Unto the Eleven 149 

He Appeared Unto the Ten Apostles 149 

He Healed by Faith, Suggestion, Magnetism and Spirit 

Power 105 

He Was Seen of Cephas and the Twelve 152 

Hell Fire, Everlasting Punishment and Everlasting Fire, 

Jesus Teaches Them All 97, 98 

His Converts Left Him 142 

Holy Ghost, Given by Laying on of Hands 50 

Holy Ghost, Speaking Against It, Forbidden 53 

Holy Ghost, Speaking Against It, Not Forgiven 53 

Holy Ghost Speaks 53 

Holy Ghost Teaches Disciples 53 

Holy Ghost. What Is It? 48 

I and My Father Are One 27 

In the Spirit or Under Spirit Control 45 

Insane Man Has Legion of Unclean Spirits 114 

Inspirational Speaking. Instructs Disciples in It 69 

Inspired Writers Disagree Z6 

Italics, Why Used 5 

Jesus a Spirit Medium 56 

Jesus Accused of Gluttony and Drinking 136 

Jesus Accused of Having a Devil 133, 134 

Jesus Angry 101 

Jesus Attended by Ministering Spirits or Angels 59 

Jesus a Carpenter Himself 21 

Jesus a Carpenter's Son 21 



PAGE 

Jesus a Developing Medium 68 

Jesus a Forgiving Spirit 154 

Jesus a Good Test Medium 62 

Jesus a Medium or Mediator 6 

Jesus a Materializing Medium 84 

Jesus a Medium for Independent Voices 63 

Jesus a Mind Reader 64 

Jesus a Spirit Ate Material Food 149 

Jesus a Spirit, Follows Disciples' Lectures w^ith Tests.. 85 

Jesus a Test Medium and True Prophet 78 

Jesus a Trance Medium 84 

Jesus an Impressional Medium 65 

Jesus Appeared Converting Thomas 150 

Jesus Appeared to Disciples in Closed Room 150 

Jesus Appeared to Mary Magdalene 148 

Jesus Baptized b}^ John 59 

Jesus Beside Himself, Friends Say 100 

Jesus Calls Himself a Man 19 

Jesus Calls Himself the Son of Man 67 Times 20 

Jesus Came Again at the Sea of Tiberias 151 

Jesus Casts Seven Devils Out of One Woman 107 

Jesus Claimed to be King of the Jews 92 

Jesus Clairvoyant and Clairaudient, Has a Vision and 

Hears a Spirit Voice 66 

Jesus Confirms Flood Story 123 

Jesus Contradicts Moses on Marriage and Swearing. . .. 

125, 126, 127 

Jesus Corroborates the Whale Story 108 

Jesus Dematerializes 152 

Jesus Develops as a Speaker 61 

Jesus Develops Healing Powers of Disciples 68 

Jesus Develops His Apostles 68 

Jesus Drove Devils Into Swine .116 

Jesus Endorses Old Testament Stories 123 

Jesus Fasts Like Modern Mediums 71 

Jesus' First Appearance After Death 148 

Jesus Gave Absent Treatments '. . . . 62 

Jesus Gave a Reading to the Woman at the Well 71 

Jesus Gave Nathaniel a Test of His Clairvoyance 67 

Jesus Gave Nathaniel Clairvoyance 67 

Jesus Gave Tests After His Crucifixion 153 

Jesus Gave Tests to Others 153 



PAGE 

Jesus Grants All Men Divinity 29 

Jesus Healed Magnetically and Spiritually 107 

Jesus Himself Says He Is the Offspring of David 177 

Jesus if He Should Visit the United States 35 

Jesus Instructs Disciples in Spiritual Science 68 

Jesus Known as Joseph's Son 40 

Jesus Knov^s the Future 81 

Jesus Led by Spirits 61 

Jesus Materialized and Met Them by Appointment 148 

Jesus Materialized Forty Days 151 

Jesus Not Accepted as God nor as a Prophet 20 

Jesus Not God 39 

Jesus Not the Only Son of God 41 

Jesus on the Cross 23 

Jesus' Parents Both Mediums 56 

Jesus Practiced Mediumship in Secret 87 

Jesus Promises to Hold a Trumpet Seance in the Dark. 81 

Jesus Raising the Dead 163 

Jesus Removed No Mountains 166 

Jesus' Tests Made Samaritans Believe 71 

Jesus the Light of the World 71 

Jesus' Trial a Farce 144 

Jesus Turned Water Into Wine 109 

Jesus Says He Is a Man 41, 71, 12 

Jesus Sends Out Seventy Teachers 138, 144 

Jesus Under Spirit Control 66 

Jesus Used Language not Elegant 100 

Jesus Well Entertained 138 

Joseph a Medium 56 

Judas Betrayed Him 144 

Lawyers Scored by Jesus, Didn't Wash Hands 94 

Lord's Supper Instituted 107 

Luke Wrote Only Things Believed 103 

Lunatics Possessed of the Devil 115 

"Man," "Angels," "Lord," "God," etc., Used Alternately 46 

"Man of God," a Medium 

Manifestations in Presence of Jesus Not Miracles 85 

Many of His Disciples Left Him 142 

Marriage. Is It a Divine Ordinance ? 108 

Marriage Laws of Moses Contradicted by Jesus 126 



PAGE 

Mary, Mother of Jesus, a Medium 57 

Mary, Jesus' Mother, Calls Joseph His Father 17 

Mediums Not Perfect. Was Jesus an Exception? 103 

MIRACULOUS CONCEPTIONS 

Others Miraculously Conceived 32 

John Miraculously Conceived 32 

Isaac's Miraculous Conception 32 

Samuel's Miraculous Conception 33 

Samson's Miraculous Conception 33 

Money Bags. Judas Carried Them 137 

Money Found in Fish's Mouth 110 

Mountains. Can Faith Remove Them? 118 

Mountains to Be Removed by Faith and Belief ... .99, 118 
Mt. Tacoma. Will Prayer Remove It? 119 

National Association of Spiritualists' Declaration of 
Principles 160 

Obsession. Did Jesus Believe in It? 117 

Ordained His Tv^elve Apostles 141 

Others Ask Jesus for More Tests 75 

Others Besides Jesus Called Gods 27 

Overturned Tables of Money Changers Ill 

Part First, Chap. 1 5 

Part Second, Chap. IV 45 

Part Third, Chap. VI 92 

Paul Calls Jesus a Man 18 

Paul Says Jesus Was from the Seed of David 15 

Pentecostal Feast. A Real Spiritualist Seance 49 

People Are Thinking 174 

Persecuted by Officials of Law and of Church 87 

Persecuted for Practicing Spiritualism. 88 

Persecution of Mediums Foretold 69 

Peter at the Pentecostal Feast 15 

Peter Denied Jesus 144 

Peter. Did He Falsify, Curse and Swear? 144 

Peter Had First Place in Jesus' Affections 26 

Peter Says David Was Forefather of Jesus 30 

Peter Says Jesus Was a Man 30 

Pharisees and Others Ask for Tests 77 



PAGE 

Philip Says Jesus Is the Son of Joseph 41 

Plagues Caused by Unclean Spirits 114 

Prayer to the Great First Cause (a Poem) 180 

Prays and Sweats Blood 22 

Preached to the Spirits in Prison, Jesus Did 157 

Priests, Scribes and Elders Want Tests 74 

Prince of Peace. Is This Like Him? 93 

Prof. Miller's (of Princeton University) View 170 

Reincarnation, Israelites Believed in It, but Doubted 

Jesus' Identity 118 

Rockefeller's Pastor Denies that Jesus Was God 174 

Sabbath According to Jesus Ill 

Sabbath. Paul's Views Regarding It 113 

Sabbath School Children, A Plea for 173 

Samuel Gave Saul a Reading 55 

Scripture Writers Err 175 

Signs and Spirit Tests the Same 46 

Some Apostles Doubted 142, 148 

Speaks to Paul. Jesus a Spirit 154 

Speaks to Two Marys. Jesus a Spirit 147 

Spirit Band, Jesus Has a Large One 58 

Spirit Communion, More of It 80 

Spirit Communion the Comforter 79 

Spirit Guides. Bible Prophets Have Them 55 

Spirit Guides of Jesus. Was Esaias One of Them?. ... 56 

Spirit Healing 105 

Spirit of Jesus Seen of 500 at One Time 152 

Spirit Reading, Samuel Gave Saul One 55 

Spirit Speaks to Paul 154 

Spirits in Prison 47 

Spirits Named Jesus Before His Birth 58 

Spiritual Science; Instructs Disciples in It 68 

Spiritualism: Jesus Taught and Demonstrated It 158 

Spiritualist Churches Fully Equipped According to Paul. 161 

Strange Doctrines Taught by Jesus 96 

Summary of Part Second 89 

Swords, Jesus Tells Disciples to Buy Them 102 

Sycamine Tree, Remove It by Faith 98 

Supposed Prophecy of Coming of Christ 15 

Testimony of Jesus Himself 177 



PAGE 

The Devil Calls Jesus Son of God 27 

The Devil Doubts Jesus and Wants a Test 75 

The Finite Cannot Comprehend the Infinite 178 

Timothy Calls Jesus a Man 7 

Trumpet Seances. Jesus Will Hold One in the Dark- 
ness 81 

Usury. Did Jesus Teach Taking It ? 126 

Usury, or Taking Interest Forbidden 125 

Verdict, The True 179 

Vision. Where There Is No Vision People Perish 70 

Walk on the Water? Did Peter 82 

Walked on the Water, Jesus Did 81 

Was Jesus an Infidel ? 124 

Was Jesus God or Man? 15 

Was Melchizedek God ? 33 

Water Turned to Wine by Jesus 109 

Where Is the Proof that Jesus Was God? 34 

Who Was Jesus of Nazareth? 8, 42, 168 

Widow's Mite 139 



JESUS OF NAZARETH — GOD, OR MAN, 
CHRIST, OR SPIRIT-MEDIUM? 

Let the Bible Decide. 

by rev. e. w. sprague. 

Part First. 
Jesus of Nazareth, God or Man? 

Part Second. 
Jesus of Nazareth, Christ or Spirit-Medium ? 

Part Third. 

A Review of the Bible Records of the Acts and 
Teachings of Jesus, Before and After His Crucifixion. 
With Still Further Proof That He Was Not God, But 
That He Was an Inspired Man and Spirit-Medium. 

Dedicatory. 

To the men and women of this century who dare to 
think, who have confidence in their own ability to 
reason, who are willing to use their reason in search- 
ing for truth, and who are prepared to accept and 
apply in their lives, every ''truth wherever found, 
whether on Christian or other ground'' ; and especially 
to those who love children and would not wish them 
to be misled by the erroneous teachings of the Sab- 
bath School, this work is respectfully dedicated by the 
author. 



Foreword. 

The author thoroughly realizes the unpleasantness 
connected with the writing of such a book as this, for 
he knows that many prejudiced minds will misjudge 
his motives and perhaps doubt his sincerity. 

Notwithstanding all this, he has a deep and sincere 
conviction that this book is needed and will do much 
good; that it will become of assistance in eliminating 
some of the erroneous, unscientific and unsatisfactory 
teachings of the orthodox Christian creeds from some 
men's minds; and that it will help to make clear the 
human characteristics, the humanitarian principles, the 
highly developed spiritual nature and spirit-medium- 
ship of Jesus of Nazareth. 

The author sincerely believes that Jesus was not all 
that could be expected of the God of the universe, but 
that he was one of the most highly developed men of 
his day; that his spiritual development was mani- 
fested in his spiritual gifts or faculties to such a degree 
that he was frequently in association with the spirits 
of wise men from the world immortal, and that he was 
a highly developed man spiritually, mentally and mor- 
ally ; that he was a savior in its truest sense ; not in the 
sense that he suffered and died as payment for the sins 
of others or as a ransom for the poor delinquents of 
all the world, including those yet unborn, but that he 
became a savior by the lessons he taught, and by the 
example he set in the life he lived. His teachings 
were needed to enlighten the minds, to formulate and 
strengthen the characters of men, and to lead the world 
into the beautiful ways of righteousness. 



The author's motive is not to injure the feelings or 
antagonize the time-honored beliefs of his Christian 
friends; but it is with the honest desire and earnest 
prayer that some of the brethren, at least, may be led 
to use their reason, becoming enlightened upon the 
question of the Deity of the Nazarene, and learn the 
real meaning of the spiritual attributes and faculties 
that were so highly developed in him. 

The author, like all other true spirit-mediums, has 
had many experiences of a spiritual nature ; therefore, 
he feels better qualified to speak upon this subject than 
one who knows nothing of the meaning of the ''spirit- 
ual gifts'' with which Jesus, his apostles, and many 
others of ancient times were endowed and with which 
we of today are blessed. 

No one can take from the Man of Nazareth one iota 
of the glory that surrounded him in his highly spirit- 
ual and strangely eventful life. Indeed, it is not the 
author's desire to do so; on the contrary, his only 
desire is to be of assistance to others in arriving at the 
truth regarding the great spiritual work of this won- 
derful though humble reformer of ancient times. 

If the author's effort shall reach the skeptics' and 
unbelievers' hearts and help them to better understand 
the Spiritual Teacher of Nazareth, and to apply his 
true teachings, he will be thankful. 

If the motive that prompted the writing of this book 
shall be understood, and this work shall become helpful 
in enlightening some of those who, after accepting the 
teachings of the orthodox Christian creeds, have be- 
come hopeless in their struggle to harmonize the church 
teachings of the Deity of Jesus with their reason and 



have been led to doubt everything rehgious in conse- 
quence, he will feel fully repaid for his efforts. 

To help correct the great mistake of the church in 
deifying Jesus, and to assist in liberating men and 
women from the bonds of error into which they have 
fallen by the acceptance of such teachings, that they 
may know the truth and be set free, is the true motive 
that inspired the writing of this book. 

The Author. 



CHAPTER I, 

PART FIRST. 

The question is often asked, *'What do Spiritualists 
teach regarding Jesus of Nazareth?'' This book re- 
cords in detail the statements of scripture regarding 
His birth, Hfe, teachings, mission to the world, death, 
etc., and our analysis and explanation of these scrip- 
tures we think may be the generally accepted beliefs 
of the majority of Spiritualists. 

Italics, Why Used. 
In this work the author has taken the liberty of 
placing a few sentences of the quotations herein used, 
in italics. This is done solely for the purpose of call- 
ing the particular attention of the reader to the sig- 
nificance or importance of facts embodied in such sen- 
tences and not with the slightest intention of misrepre- 
senting those he quotes. 

Meaning of Biblical Terms. 

At the outset the reader should become familiar with 
the true meaning of the terms ''God," ''Man," "Christ," 
"Messiah," "Prophet," and "Spirit-Medium," that he 
may have a full understanding of the subjects dis- 
cussed in this work. 

Webster defines these words as follows : 

"God— The Supreme Being; the Eternal and In- 
finite Spirit, Creator and Sovereign of the Universe; 
Jehovah." 

"Man — A human being; an individual of the genus 
homo." 

"Christ — 1st, the Messiah, or (Lord's) Anointed, 
whose coming was expected by the Jews." "4th, 

5 



6 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

among the Jews, any divinely appointed ruler, as con- 
secrated by anointing." 

''Messiah — 1st, the expected king and deliverer of 
the Hebrews; the Christ." ''2nd, an expected deliverer 
or savior in other religions than the Christian." 

Thus it will be seen that the terms '"Christ" and 
"Messiah" both have the same meaning. 

"Prophet — One who prophesies or foretells events." 

''Medium — 4th, an interagent; a mediator; an inter- 
mediary. 5th, a person supposed to be susceptible to 
supernatural or supernormal agencies to such an ex- 
tent as to be able to impart knowledge derived from 
them or to perform actions impossible without their 
aid ; as a spiritualistic medium." 

"The name of Jesus is the proper name of our Lord, 
and that of Christ is added to identify Him with the 
promised Messiah." 

(Bible Dictionary by Wm. Smith.) 

Jesus of Nazareth a Medium, a Mediator. 

A medium is a mediator, and a mediator is a me- 
dium, as has been shown by Webster's definition of the 
terms. Jesus was a "mediator," an "interagent," and 
an "intermediary," all of which are given by Webster 
as definitions of the term "medium"; therefore, the 
term "medium" applies to Jesus. 

"Jesus the Christ," "Jesus the Anointed," have the 
same meaning as "Jesus the Medium." 

Mark viii, 29 — Peter says Jesus is "the Christ." 

Mark xiv, 61-62 — Jesus says himself he is "the 
Christ" (the medium). 

John i, 41 — "He" (Andrew) "first findeth his own 
brother Simon and saith unto him, 'we have found the 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 7 

Messiah' '' (medium), ''which is, being interpreted, the 
Christ." 

'Trophet — One who prophesies or foretells events; 
a predictor/' — Webster. 

A ''medium" and a "prophet'' are one and the same. 

In the Dictionary of the Bible, edited by Wm. Smith, 
classical examiner of the University of London, year 
1900, the following definitions are given of the word 
prophet : 

"2nd. The man to whom announcements are made 
by God; i. e., inspired." 

"3rd. One who sees; seer." 

"4th. One who speaks for another." 

"5th. An interpreter." 

This author quotes Locke as follows : "The differ- 
ent meanings, or shades of meaning, in w^hich the ab- 
stract noun is employed in Scripture have been drawn 
out by Locke as follows : 'Prophecy comprehends 
three things : prediction, singing by the dictation of 
the spirit ; and understanding and explaining the mys- 
terious and hidden sense of Scripture by an imme- 
diate illumination and motion of the spirit.' " All of 
these things modern mediums possess the power to do. 

Galatians iii, 19, says : "Wherefore then serveth the 
law? It was added because of transgressions, till the 
seed should come to whom the promise is made ; and 
it was ordained by angels" (spirits) "in the hand of a 
mediator" (medium). 

20th Verse — "Now, a mediator is not a mediator of 
one, but God is one." 

Timothy Calls Jesus a Man. 
I. Timothy ii, 5 — "For there is one God, and one 
mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ." 



8 JESUS of'nazareth 

Hebrews viii, 6 — *'But now hath he obtained a more 
excellent ministry, by how much also he is the medi- 
ator'' (or medium) "of a better covenant, which was 
established upon better promises." 

See also Hebrews ix, 15; xii, 24. 
Proof of the messiahship or spirit-mediumship of 
Jesus will be given in following chapters : 

In a book entitled ''The Most Important Names, 
Objects and Terms Found in the Holy Scriptures," by 
Howard Malcom, D. D., we find the following defi- 
nidon : ^'Mediator, one who acts between parties at 
variance, in order to bring them to an agreement. 
Moses was often a mediator between Jehovah and the 
Jews," etc. 

I. Chron. xxix, 29, speaks of ''Samuel the seer," 
"Nathan the prophet," and "Gad the seer." "Seer," 
"prophet" and "m.edium" all have the same meaning. 

I. Cor. xiv, 32 — "And the spirits of the prophets are 
subject to the prophets" (mediums). 

Numbers xii, 6-8 — "God will speak to his prophets" 
(mediums, seers) "mouth to mouth, in vision, and in 
dreams." 

Who Was Jesus of Nazareth? 

"Come, now, and let us reason together." (Isaiah, 
1st chapter, 18th verse.) 

The orthodox Christian church has deified the man 
of Nazareth and worships him as "very God." 

In this work the author claims to prove by the Bible 
itself that Jesus was not "Almighty God," but that he 
was a man and a spirit-medium; that he was a martyr 
to the same cause that Modern Spiritualism represents 
and that the Spiritualists of today are laboring to 



JESUS OF NAZARETH y 

advance. Many passages of scripture will be quoted 
in support of this claim, and the author will let Saints 
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, and other 
disciples, apostles, and inspired men of the New Testa- 
ment, as well as Jesus himself, by his own words and 
his great works, decide the matter in question. 

Christian Creeds. 

In substantiation of the statement that the orthodox 
Christian church has deified the man of Nazareth and 
worships him as the God of the universe, we will call 
the reader's atte^fciofi to their Creeds, Doctrines and 
Articles of Faith, some of which read as follows: 

Old South Church of Boston (Congregationalist). 

'^Confession of Faith and Form of Covenant of the 
Old South Church, Boston, Mass., 1855.'' Page 22, 
chapter 2 : 

"Of God and the Holy Trinity. 
'There is but one living and true God, who is infinite 
in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, 
without parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eter- 
nal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, 
most free, most absolute," etc. 

'TIL In the unity of the Godhead there be three 
persons of one substance, power, and eternity — God 
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost : 

"The Father is of none, neither begotten, nor pro- 
ceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; 
the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father 
and the Son, which doctrine of the Trinity is the 
foundation of all our communion with God and com- 
fortable dependence upon Him." 



10 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

From ''Creeds of Christendom" (by SchafF). 
Free-Will Baptist. 

"Confession of the Free-Will Baptists, 1834-1868." 
Page 751, chapter 5, section 1 : 

''Jesus Christ, the Son of God, possesses all divine 
perfection. 

"As he and the Father are one, he, in his divine 
nature, filled all the offices and performed the works of 
God to his creatures that have been the subjects of 
revelation to us. As man he performed all the duties 
tovi^ard God that we are required to perform, repent- 
ance of sin excepted.'' 

"His divinity is proved from his titles, his attributes, 
and his works." 

"3rd. His Works. — By Christ the world zvas cre- 
ated; he preserves and governs it; he has provided 
redemption for all men, and he will be their final 
judge." 

Episcopal. 

"Articles of Religion of the Reformed Episcopal 
Church in America, Adopted 1875." 

Article II. Of the Word, or Son of God, Which 
Was Made Very Man. 
"The Son, who is the word of the Father, begotten 
from everlasting of the Father, took man's nature in 
the womb of the blessed virgin, of her substance; so 
that two whole and perfect natures — that is to say, the 
godhead and manhood — were joined together in one 
person, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, 
very God and very man; who truly suffered, was 
crucified, dead and buried, to satisfy Divine Justice, 
and to reconcile us to His Father, and to be a sacrifice. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 11 

not only for original sin, but also for actual sins of 
men." 

Lutheran. 

*The Apostles' Creed, as Published in the Name of 
the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Pennsylvania." 

Second article : "I believe in Jesus Christ, true God, 
begotten of the Father from eternity, and also man, 
born of Virgin Mary," etc. 

This same Lutheran church authority, in its Small 
Catechism, prepared in 1863, page 56, in its questions 
and answers, in Question 151, says: ''Can our reason 
comprehend the doctrine of the Holy Trinity?" An- 
swer : "No ! It is an unfathomable mystery, which must 
be believed upon the authority of the word of God." 

Methodist. 

'The Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

"Edited by Bishop Andrews. Western Methodist 
Book Concern, Cincinnati; and Methodist Book Con- 
cern, New York. 1896." 

Article II. "Of the Word, or Son of God, Who 
Was Made Very Man." 
Paragraph 2 : "The Son, who is the Word of the 
Father, the very and eternal God, of one substance 
with the Father, took man's nature in the womb of the 
blessed Virgin ; so that two whole and perfect natures 
— that is to say, the Godhead and Manhood — were 
joined together in one person, never to be divided; 
whereof is one Christ, very God and very Man, who 
truly suffered, was crucified, died, and buried, to 
reconcile His Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not 



12 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

only for original guilt, but also for the actual sins of 



men." 



Presbyterian. 

'The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church of 
the United States, 1805-1892 and 1893. 

"Issued by the Philadelphia Presbyterian Board of 
Publication and Sabbath- School Work, 1334 Chestnut 
Street. 1894." 

'*The Confession of Faith," section iii: "In the 
Unity of the Godhead there are three persons of one 
substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God 
the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The Father is of 
none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is 
eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost 
eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son." 

Catholic. 
A pamphlet entitled 

"Catholic Belief : Or a Short and Simple Exposition 

of Catholic Doctrine." 

"Author's American Edition, 

"Edited by Rev. Louis A. Lambert and Approved by 
Archbishop McCloskey of New York, and Others." 
Pages 17 and 18, chapter ii, reads as follows: 

"The Most Holy Trinity. 
"This is a profound mystery, revealed to us by God. 
The Catholic Church teaches that in one God there are 
three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost; each distinct from the other, each equal in 
eternity, power, immensity and all other perfections ; 
because all three Persons have one and the same divine 
nature or essence.'* 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 13 

"It would be a contradiction to assert that there are 
three Gods and one God, or that there are three Per- 
sons and one Person; but it is no contradiction to 
affirm that God is one in essence and three in person." 

Page 172: 'The Blessed Virgin Mary, therefore, is 
justly styled 'Mother of God' because she is the 
Mother of Jesus Christ, whose humanity is assumed by 
and united to a divine Person, that is, God the Son." 

Thus it will be seen that the Congregationalists, Bap- 
tists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, Prebyte- 
rian and Catholics believe and teach that Jesus of Naz- 
areth is God, "very God," equal in power with the 
Almighty, the Baptists declaring that "by Christ the 
world was created"; the Methodists proclaiming him 
"the very and eternal God"; the Presbyterians pro- 
nouncing him, as do the others, "God the Son." 

Many other denominations of orthodox Christianity 
base their hope of salvation and a life to come on this 
one unprovable principle of faith, which was handed 
down to this generation by inexperienced men of an 
early day, when men had not acquired the knowledge 
of the great natural truths and scientific principles of 
nature that constitute the wonderful discoveries of 
today. 

We can excuse these primitive men for their lack of 
knowledge. It was not their fault. They did the best 
they knew, no doubt, but there is no valid reason why 
we should remain yoked or manacled to their erro- 
neous beliefs and opinions, or that we should refuse 
to look about us for the true interpretation of all their 
traditional religious beliefs. 

Let us seek the truth; especially should Christians 
do so since the great man, medium and martyr of 



14 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Nazareth declared, 'The truth shall make you free," 
''Seek and ye shall find/' "Knock and it shall be opened 
unto you." 

In this work the author is following strictly the 
injunction of St. Paul, as stated in the following 
scripture: First Thessalonians v., 19: "Quench not 
the Spirit." 

Verse 20: "Despise not prophesyings." 

Verse 21 : "Prove all things; hold fast that which 
is good." 

'^Come now and let us reason together, saitli the 
Lordr (Isaiah i., 18.) 

Was Jesus the only Christ? 

Webster says : "Among the Jews, any divinely ap- 
pointed ruler, as consecrated by anointing, is a Christ." 
This being true, there may be many Christs. 



CHAPTER 11. 

Was Jesus God, or Man? 
We will now proceed to the investigation of the 
Scriptures and the testimony of the associates of Jesus 
and the ''inspired" writers of the book. 

Supposed Prophecy of the Coming of Christ. 

Isaiah xi., 1 — ''And there shall come forth a rod out 
of the stem of Jessie, and a branch shall grow out of 
his roots." 

Verse 2: "And the spirit of the Lord shall rest 
upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the 
spirit of council and might, the spirit of knowledge, 
and of the fear of the Lord." 

Christians claim this is a prophecy of the coming of 
Christ. 

If he was God, could the fear of the Lord rest upon 
him? 

St. Peter at the Pentecostal Feast. 

Corroborates the other Scriptures in this matter by 
saying: "That God had sworn with an oath to him 
(David) that of the fruit of his loins he would raise 
up Christ to sit on his throne." (Acts ii., 29, 30.) 

Paul Says Jesus Was of the Seed of David. 

Also declares it as follows: "Concerning his Son 
Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of 
David according to the flesh." (See Romans i — 1-2-3.) 
This statement should settle the question with every 
true Christian, should it not? 

If Joseph was not the natural father of Jesus, how 
could he have been "made of the seed of David ac- 
cording to the flesh?" And if Joseph was the father of 

15 



16 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Jesus, the Holy Ghost was not his father because a 
child cannot have two fathers. 

David Was the Forefather of Jesus, Says Luke. 

Luke i, 32 : *'And the Lord God shall give unto him 
(Jesus) the throne of his father David. 

Matt, xii., 23 : "And all the people were amazed, and 
said, is not this the son of David," 

Paul says: "Remember that Jesus Christ, of the 
seed of David, was raised from the dead, according 
to my gospel." (2d Tim. ii., 8.) 

Psalm Ixxxix., 35 : Jehovah says : "Once have I 
sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David." 

36: "His seed shall endure forever, and his throne 
as the sun before me." 

Acts ii., 29, 30: St. Paul says of David: "There- 
fore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn 
with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, ac- 
cording to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit 
on his throne." 

Psalm cxxxii., 11 : "The Lord hath sworn in truth 
unto David, he will not turn from it. Of the fruit of 
thy body will I set upon thy throne." 

Even the Angel Gabriel Says David Was the 
Father of Jesus. 

Luke i, 26: "And in the sixth month the angel Ga- 
briel was sent from God unto a city of Gallilee named 
Nazareth." 

Verse 27: To a virgin espoused to a man whose 
name was Joseph, of the house of David ; and the vir- 
gin's name was Mary." 

30th Verse : "And the angel said unto her, Fear not, 
Mary : for thou hast found favor with God." 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 17 

31st Verse : ''And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy 
womb, and bring forth a Son and shalt call his name 
JESUS." 

32nd Verse : ''He shall be great and shall be called 
the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give 
unto him the throne of his father David. 

Thus the angel Gabriel says Jesus was the offspring 
of David. 

Mary, Jesus' Mother, Calls Joseph Jesus' Father. 

Luke ii., 48: "And when they saw him they were 
amazed : and his mother said unto him. Son, why hast 
thou thus dealt with us ? behold thy father and I have 
sought thee sorrowing." 

If Joseph was not his real father, Jesus could not 
have been the son of David. If Joseph was the father 
of Jesus- the Holy Ghost was not his father, and God's 
promise to David was never fulfilled. (Isaiah xi — 1-10 ; 
Lev. xxiii., 5 ; Act ii., 30; Rom. xv., 12.) 

Matt, xii., 50 — Jesus says : "For whosoever shall do 
the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is 
my brother and sister and mother." In this Jesus 
locates his Father, saying He is in heaven, then calls 
man his brother and women his sister and mother. 
This indicates that Jesus was a man like other men. 

Matt, xix, 17 — Jesus declares that he himself is ''not 
good/' He says : 'Why callest thou me good? There 
is none good but one, that is God/' This statement is 
repeated in Mark x., 18. If Jesus was God, and this 
statement of his was true, then God, "the Creator of 
the Universe," is not good. It is impossible to har- 
monize, with reason, these two propositions, namely, 
that God is not good, and that the man Jesus was the 
Creator and Governor of the universe. It is much 



18 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

easier to believe that Jesus was a spiritually endowed 
man. 

Matt, xviii, 35 — ''So likewise shall my heavenly 
father do also unto you if ye from your hearts forgive 
not every one his brother their trespasses/' In speak- 
ing of "my Heavenly Father" he cannot mean himself, 

Matt. XX; 23 — ''But to sit on my right hand, and on 
my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to 
them for whom it is prepared of my Father!' 

In all of his references to ''my Father" he evidently 
refers to God, the same as any other "man" would do. 

Luke ii, 52 — "And Jesus increased in zvisdom and 
stature and in favor with God and man," 

Did Almighty God increase in w^isdom, if He is 
omniscient, knowing all things as taught by Chris- 
tianity ? 

Did God increase in favor wuth Himself? Is it 
reasonable to believe and teach that this twelve-year- 
old boy, who was growing in stature and wisdom, was 
"Eternal God"? I ask this not in derision, but with 
the sincere desire to aid, if possible, in arousing good 
Christian men and women to the need of eliminating 
this impossible thing from their supposed unerring 
creeds and assisting all in finding the truth regarding 
who and what was Jesus of Nazareth. 

St. Paul Calls Him a Man. 

I. Timothy ii, 5 — Paul says : "There is one God, 
and one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus 
Christ," 

Hebrews iii, 1, 2, 3 — Paul again calls Jesus an 
''apostle'' and a "man," 

Verse 1 : "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 19 

the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High 
Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus." 

Verse 2 : ''Who was faithful to him who appointed 
him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house/' 

Verse 3 : 'Tor this man was counted worthy of 
more glory than Moses/' 

Note that Paul calls him a man, and says he is a 
mediator between God and man, thus designating God 
as another individuality from Jesus. Thus Paul makes 
out that Jesus and God are two separate personalities. 

John xiv, 28 — Jesus says : 'Tf ye loved me, ye would 
rejoice because I said, / go unto the Father, for my 
Father is greater than If That is, his Father is 
another, and cannot be he, and he cannot be his own 
father. 

John viii, 18— Jesus says : 'T am one that bear wit- 
ness of myself and the Father that sent me." 

Was Jesus the Father that sent himself? Not so, 
according to reason. 

Jesus Calls Himself a Man. 

Verse 40 — Jesus continues : ''But now ye seek to 
kill me, a mMu that hath told you the truth, zvhich I 
have heard of God. This did not Abraham/' 

Other passages in this chapter show that he made no 
claim of being God. 

John xiv, 12 — Jesus says further : "Verily, verily, I 
say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I 
do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall 
he do; because I go unto my Father." If Jesus was 
God, shall those who believe on him do greater works 
than God? 

Luke vi. 12 — "And it came to pass in those days, 



20 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

that he went out into a mountain to pray and con- 
tinued all night in prayer to God/' 

Did he pray to himself all night? Such teachings 
have been a great cause of infidelity and heresy. Here- 
tics are the legitimate product of such teachings. 

Jesus Calls Himself the Son of Man Sixty-seven 

Times. 

In the four gospels Jesus calls himself the ''Son of 
Man" sixty-seven times. Others call him the ''Son of 
Man'' but four times, but call him "Master'' many 
times. 

John viii., 28 — "Then said Jesus unto them. When ye 
have lifted up the son of man, then shall ye know that 
I am he, and that I do nothing of myself ; but as my 
Father hath taught me I speak these things.'* 

Jesus never calls himself "God," "Supreme Ruler," 
"Very God," nor any other name that would indicate 
that he was anything but a man — ^just a good, noble 
and true man, that's all. Is there a single passage of 
Scripture in which Jesus is called God? 

Luke iii, 23 — "And Jesus himself began to be about 
thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son 
of Joseph, which was the son of Heli." 

Think of it! Luke, one of the inspired writers of 
the gospel, says Jesus was "about thirty years old," 
and was supposed to have been the son of Joseph. 
Is this not enough to prove to Christians that Joseph 
was his father? 

Jesus Not Accepted by His Own People as God, 
Nor Even as a Prophet. 
Matt, xiii, 54 — "And when he was come into his 
country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 21 

that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this 
man this wisdom and these mighty works ?'' 

The Carpenter's Son. 

Verse 55: ''Is not this the carpenter's son? is not 
his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and 
Joses, and Simon, and Judas? 

Verse 56: ''And his sisters, are they not all with 
us ? Whence then hath this man all these things ?" 

Verse 57: *'And they were offended in him. But 
Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, 
save in his own country and in his own house." 

Verse 58 — "And he did not many mighty works 
there because of their unbelief." 

If his own family and neighbors could not believe 
in him, why should we today accept him as God ? They 
knew him, we did not. 

Joseph was known as a carpenter, and Jesus was 
known as his son. They doubted him and said (Matt, 
xiv, 55), "Is not this the carpenter's son?" 

Jesus Himself a Carpenter. 

Not only was Jesus the "carpenter's son," but he 
himself was known as "the carpenter" among his own 
people in his own home. 

Mark vi, 3 : "Is not this the carpenter, the son of 
Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, 
and Simon ? and are not his sisters here with us ? And 
they were offended at him." 

Verse 5 : "And he could there do no mighty work, 
save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and 
healed them." 

This was no proof of his divinity. 



22 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Verse 6: ''And he marveled because of their unbe- 
lief. And he went round about the village, teaching." 

His own family had no idea that Jesus was God. 
His mother never suspected that she was the mother 
of God. 

His brothers and sisters were not conscious of be- 
ing half-brothers and half-sisters of ''Almighty God.'* 
Isn't this strange? 

Jesus Prays and Sweats Blood. 

Luke xxii., 44: "And being in an agony he prayed 
more earnestly : and his sweat was as it were great 
drops of blood falling to the ground.'' 

Now, dear reader, once more "let us reason to- 
gether." If Jesus was God, w^ould he have prayed to 
God; would he have been in such agony at the ap- 
proach of his own crucifixion that he sweat blood; 
especially so when, as claimed by the Church, the 
whole plan of the crucifixion was arranged by himself 
to satisfy himself? 

It seems much more reasonable to believe that Jesus 
was a good and spiritual man than to believe that he 
was God. 

Luke xxii., 41 : "And he was withdrawn from them 
about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed." 

Verse 42: "Saying, Father, if thou be willing, re- 
move this cup from me ; nevertheless not my will, but 
thine, be done." 

Is not this enough to show to any rational mind that 
he was not God, "very God" endowed with "equal 
power" of the Almighty, yet submitted to the will of 
God, after asking Him to remove this cup from him? 

Pitiful and tender are these words of the noble man, 
zvho gave his life for the cause that proves a future life 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 23 

for mankind. Reader, please note what followed this 
prayer. 

Verse 43 — ''And there appeared an angel unto him 
from heaven strengthening him'' Angels are spirits 
and spirits are angels. How beautiful it was that they 
came to him in his hour of great trial ! Angels come 
to those in distress the same today, as millions of peo- 
ple testify. 

Jesus on the Cross. 

Mark xiv, 36: *'And he said: Ahba Father, all 
things are possible unto thee ; take away this cup from 
me ; nevertheless, not what I will, but what thou wilt." 

Is more needed to show that Jesus was not God, 
"very God," as claimed by the Christian creeds? 

Matt, xxvii, 46 — ''While being crucified Jesus said : 
'*My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" 

My Christian brother, do not these words of the 
Nazarene satisfy you that your creed errs in claiming 
that Jesus was God ? 

Luke xxiii, 46 — While he was being crucified : '*And 
when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, 
unto thy hands I commend my spirit ; and having said 
thus, he gave up the ghost." 

Thus in the terrible agonies of his crucifixion, this 
good man did the only thing left to him to do, just the 
same as other men would do under like circumstances : 
he cried out to God to save him ; then inquired of God 
if he had ''forsaken him" ; then becoming imbued with 
the spirit of resignation to his fate, he said: "Father, 
unto thy hands I commend my spirit." How pathetic ! 

His Own Disciples Did Not Deify Jesus. 
Luke viii, 22, 23, 24, says that Jesus and his disciples 
went out in a ship, and a storm arose, and they "were 



24 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

in jeopardy/' and likely to "perish''; when they awoke 
Jesus, who was sleeping, and he ''rebuked the wind" 
j}« * >K ''and there was a calm." 

The 25th verse says : '*And he said unto them, 
Where is your faith? And they, being afraid, won- 
dered, saying one to another. What manner of man 
is this? for he commandeth even the winds and the 
water, and they obey." 

Evidently they had no idea that he was God, or they 
would not have asked the question, *'What manner of 
man is this?'' They took him to be a strange and 
vv^onderful man, no more, no less. 

His Disciples Doubted Him and Did Not Believe. 

Matt, xiv, 25 to 31 : Peter wanted to learn how to 
walk on the water as Jesus was doing. Jesus told him 
to ''come," and "be not afraid." Peter "came down 
out of the ship" and "walked on the water to go to 
Jesus." 

Verse 30: "But when he saw the wind boisterous, 
he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, 
Lord, save me !" 

Verse 31 : "And immediately Jesus stretched forth 
his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou 
of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Even 
St. Peter had but "little faith" and "doubted,*' though 
he knew Jesus well. 

Matt, xxviii, 16: "Then the eleven disciples went 
away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had 
appointed them." 

Verse 17: "And when they saw him, they wor- 
shiped him ; but some doubted." 

This shows that some of his disciples were real 
skeptics. Judas, one of his disciples, betrayed him 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 25 

(Matt, xxvi., 47, 48, and 49). Peter, another of his 
disciples, denied him (Matt, xxvi, verses 69 to 75). 
Did they think he was God when they did it? 

Mark XVI., 11: "And they, when they had heard 
that he was alive, and had been seen of her'' (Mary 
Magdalene), ''beHeved not." 

Verse 13 : ''And they went and told it unto the 
residue; neither believed they them.'' 

Luke xxiv., 11 : ''And their words seemed to them 
as idle tales, and they beheved them not." 

Why did they doubt, when Jesus had promised to 
return to them ? 

21st Verse — "But we trusted that it had been he 
which should have redeemed Israel: and besides all 
this, today is the third day since these things were 
done." 

They were doubtful of his returning after his cruci- 
fixion though he had promised to do so. 

John XX., 24 : "But Thomas, one of the twelve, called 
Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came." 

Verse 25 : "The other disciples therefore said unto 
him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, 
Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, 
and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." 

If these disciples who had been taught by Jesus to 
"work miracles" and had witnessed the remarkable 
phenomena occurring in the presence of Jesus, doubted 
him, and denied him, and betrayed him, could they 
have believed him to be the God of this universe, the 
only "true God"? Even people of the five thousand 
whom Jesus is said to have fed with five barley loaves 
and two small fishes did not believe, and Jesus tells 



26 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

them so. John vi tells the story. In the 36th verse 
Jesus says to them, "But I said unto you, that ye also 
have seen me and believe not.'' 

If they who were with him and saw the wonders of 
his works did not believe he was God, why should we 
believe it? 

Peter Had First Place in the Affections of Jesus. 

Matt, xvi., 16: "And Simon Peter answered and 
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God/' 
Not God, but the son of God, just as all men are sons 
of God. 

Verse 17: "And Jesus answered and said unto 
him. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and 
blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father 
which is in heaven." 

Verse 18: "And I say also unto thee, that thou art 
Peter; and upon this rock I will build by church, and 
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.*' 

It was Peter's mediumship that revealed it unto him, 
and this mediumship was the rock upon which Jesus 
said he would build his church, and not upon Peter 
himself, as some have supposed. 

Verse 19 — "And I will give unto thee the keys of 
the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shall 
bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven ; and whatso- 
ever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in 
heaven." 

The above statements of the Nazarene show the high 
esteem in which Jesus held this one of his disciples. 
Jesus deemed Peter worthy and thus showed his confi- 
dence in him. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 27 

"I and My Father Are One." 
One thing upon which Christianity bases its teach- 
ings, that Jesus was 'Very God/' is the following state- 
ment of the Nazarene : 
John X., 30 : ''I and my Father are one." 
Following this, in the 34th verse, Jesus answered 
them : *'It is written in your law, / said ye are gods," 
Verse 29: "My Father which gave them me, is 
greater than all." 

John xiv., 28 : "For My Father is greater than I." 
If Jesus was Almighty God as claimed by the 
church, there was one greater than Almighty God, 
namely, his "Father." 

John X., verse 37: "If I do not the works of my 
Father, believe me not." 

Verse 38 : "But if I do, though ye believe not me," 
believe the works ; that ye may know, and believe, that 
the Father is in me, and I in Him." 

In this statement it will be seen that Jesus taught 
that his works proved that the Father was in him and 
he in the Father. In other words, the spiritual phenom- 
ena occurring in the presence of Jesus, he claimed was 
of God. 

Devils Made to Call Jesus the "Son of God/' 
The gospel writers were so determined that Jesus 
should be known as the only begotten son that they 
state that the devils he cast out addressed Jesus as the 
"Son of God." See Matt, viii., 28-29; Luke iv., 41, 
viii., 28. 

Others Besides Jesus Are Called Gods. 
In the 82nd Psalm, 6th verse, King David is made 
to say : "Ye are all gods, and all of you are children of 



28 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

the most high." Gods were plentiful in those early 
days. 

Isaiah xli., 23 — ''Shew the things that are to come 
hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods.*' 

John X., 30: When Jesus proclaimed to the Jews 
that ''I and my Father are one" they took up stones 
to stone him. 

Verse 32 : "Jesus answered them, Many good works 
have I showed you from my Father: for which of 
those works do ye stone me?" 

Verse 33 : "The Jews answered him, saying, For a 
good work w^e stone thee not ; but for blasphemy ; and 
because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." 
They did not understand, and in explanation (34th 
verse), "Jesus answered them. Is it not written in your 
law, I said ye are gods?" Thus he granted those 
Israelites the same divinity he claimed for himself. 

Verse 35: "If he called them gods unto whom the 
word of God came, and the scripture cannot be 
broken." 

Verse 36: "Say ye of him whom the Father hath 
sanctified, and sent into the world. Thou blasphemest ; 
because I said, I am the Son of God." 

Jesus does not claim to be God, but the Son of God. 

Almost in the same breath that Jesus declared "I 
and my Father are one," he said, "Ye are gods." These 
declarations are but four verses apart and occur in the 
same chapter. Jesus never said that he was "God," 
"Very God," "Almighty God," or "The Creator," as 
the various creeds declare him to be. He always called 
himself "the brother of man," and "the Son of Man." 

John xiv., 16: "And I will pray to the Father, and 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 29 

he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide 
with you forever." 

Matt, xii., 50: "For whosoever shall do the will of 
my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, 
and sister, and mother." 

John v., 30: "I can of mine own self do nothing," 
says Jesus. Did he mean it? Was he God, and yet 
could he do nothing of himself ? 

He continues by saying: "I seek not my own will, 
but the will of my father which hath sent me." Are 
these the words of the Infinite, All-Powerful God of 
the Universe? Does God seek not His own will, but 
the will of His "Father who sent Him"? Was God 
Almighty sent to earth by someone greater than He 
to do that someone else's will? 

In Rev. iii., 12th verse, Jesus Christ, a spirit, in his 
spirit message to John the Revelator, mentions "My 
God," four times. If Jesus was Almighty God as the 
orthodox Christian creeds assert, who was his God 
that he speaks of four times in this one verse? 

Jesus Grants All Men Divinity. 

The Spiritualists do not, as some suppose, rob Jesus 
of his divinity, but they grant it to all the race just as 
Jesus himself granted divinity to all. 

John xiv., 20 : Jesus says : "At that day ye shall 
know I am in my Father, and ye in me and I in you." 

If this be true, then all are divine, all are Christs, or 
spirit-mediums, possessing godship, and are gods in 
embryo. 

Did Jesus make a single claim to being "the only 
begotten son of God," did he ever claim to be "very 
God"? 



30 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Jesus was a child of the large family of Joseph and 
Mary — seven children at least, four brothers and two 
sisters. (See Matt, xiii., 55 and 56.) Then was he 
God and they not gods, or were they half-brothers and 
half-sisters of God? 

John i., 18, says: "No man hath seen God at any 
time." 

If that scripture is true, then Jesus was not God 
because he was seen of thousands of men many times 
while he lived, and of hundreds of men after his death, 
if the Bible tells the truth about it. 

Spiritualists generally accept the statement of Peter 
regarding the divinity of Jesus. 

St. Peter Says Jesus Was a Man. 
Acts ii., 22: **Ye men of Israel, hear these words: 
Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among 
you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God 
did, by him, in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also 
know." By these signs, wonders, etc., Jesus proved 
that his works were done through his mediumship and 
were good. 

St. Peter Says David Was the Forefather of Jesus. 

Acts ii., 29 : *'Men and brethren, let me freely speak 
unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead 
and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day." 

30th Verse: "Therefore being a prophet" (medium), 
"and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, 
that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he 
would raise up Christ to sit on his throne." 

Verse 32 : "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof 
we are all witnesses." 

Could God raise up Jesus "according to the flesh," 
and "of the fruit of David's loins," without some 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 31 

"Joseph, or other son of David" being his father? If 
Joseph was not the father of Jesus, and, as is claimed 
by the Church, he had no earthly father, then this 
*'sworn promise of God," this ''oath" of God, ''that of 
the fruit of David's loins, according to the flesh, he 
would raise up Christ," was never fulfilled. The 
promise that he should sit on the throne of David was 
never fulfilled. The complications are continually mul- 
tiplying and the farther we trace the facts the fainter 
becomes this claim; while the proof continually in- 
creases showing the absurdity of this colossal error. 



CHAPTER III. 

OTHER BIBLE CHARACTERS MIRACU- 
LOUSLY CONCEIVED. 

Are all men who were miraculously (?) conceived, 
gods of this universe? If so there are many more 
gods than are named in the Trinity. Many men of 
different nationalities have been deified by their igno- 
rant followers. It has been quite fashionable in past 
ages to grant miraculous conception to men whom ig- 
norant people deify as gods. 

The Christian Bible records in detail accounts of 
other men than Jesus who were miraculously con- 
ceived, and states that one man, a "king of Salem, and 
priest of the most high God,'' was never born at all. 
What strange and impossible things are found in sa- 
cred scriptures ! The following are remarkable cases : 

John Miraculously Conceived 
Luke i., Zacharius the priest, and Elizabeth the cou- 
sin of the virgin Mary were his parents. They were 
old and well stricken in years (7th verse). There ap- 
peared unto Zacharius an angel of the Lord (11th 
verse), who said he was the angel Gabriel, and was 
sent by God to tell them the glad tidings, that they 
were to become the parents of a son whom they would 
name John (19th verse). 

Isaac's Miraculous Conception. 

According to the scriptures there were other "proph- 
ets'' and "men of God" who were miraculously con- 
ceived ; namely, Isaac, who was born to Abraham and 
Sarah, thus fulfilling God's promise to them, though 
Sarah was ninety years old and barren and Abraham 

was an hundred years old. 

32 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 33 

The particulars are given in Genesis xvii., 15th to 
21st verses; Genesis xviii., 1st to ISth verses, and Gen- 
esis xxi. : 1st to 6th verses. 

Samuers Miraculous Conception. 
Samuel v^as born of Elkanah and Hannah, though 
Hannah w^as barren (see I. Sam. i., 1st to 20th verses). 
According to this Scripture Samuel was conceived as 
the result of another miracle. 

Samson's Miraculous Conception. 

Samson was born to Manoah and his wife, by the 
edict of ''the angel of the Lord,'' though she "was 
barren, and bare not" (Judges xiii., 2d to 25th verses). 

Following this is a strange story of Samson's love 
affairs and mighty acts of spirit-power, etc., which is 
interesting reading from the standpoint of ''God's 
word" but otherwise rather incredible. 

Can it be inferred that Isaac, Samuel, Samson and 
John were gods because of their miraculous concep- 
tions? If not, why not? Their mothers were not vir- 
gins, to be sure, and their conception was not father- 
less, but in each case God was supposed to have 
wrought a miracle, and in the case of Sarah a remark- 
able one indeed. 

These four miraculously conceived persons were 
"priests," "prophets," or "men of God," each perform- 
ing so-called miracles that were supposed to be proof 
of their divinity, or of their receiving direct communi- 
cations from God. If such works prove one's godship, 
were these not "gods" also ? 

Was Melchisedec God? 

He had no father or mother, neither beginning nor 
ending of life. 



34 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Hebrews vii., 1 : 'Tor this Melchisedec, king of Sa- 
lem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham 
returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed 
him;" 

Verse 3: "Without father, without mother, with- 
out descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end 
of Hfe; but made like unto the son of God; abideth a 
priest continually." According to this scripture, Mel- 
chisedec was never born at all. "Having neither be- 
ginning nor end," he was fatherless and motherless. 
Was he another "god" ? 

God men and men Gods were plentiful in those 
primitive days, and evidently because of the undevel- 
oped mental state of the human race at that time. 

Where Is the Proof That Jesus Was God? 

Is there one single passage of scripture that teaches 
that Jesus was God? The statement in John x., 30th 
verse, "I and My Father are one," is annulled in John 
X., 34. Jesus says : "Ye are gods," and in other pas- 
sages he grants divinity to other men. Everywhere it 
is plainly shown that he did not intend to claim that he 
himself was the Supreme Ruler of the universe, but 
that he and all true men were endowed with divine at- 
tributes. Such scripture as has been supposed to 
teach that Jesus was God simply teaches that he was in 
possession of faculties, gifts and powers such as belong 
to and are explained by spirit-mediumship. 

The rending of the rocks, the darkening of the sun, 
and the dead coming out of their graves at the time of 
his crucifixion is purely legendary, no word of which 
was written for half a century after the death of Je- 
sus ; and have we not the same right to doubt its truth 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 35 

as had Jesus himself to doubt and to contradict the 
scriptures claimed to have been written by Moses (see 
Matt, v., 31, 32, 38, 43, 44). 

It may have been that earthquakes occurred about 
that time, and that there was an eclipse of the sun, and 
that the people became so frightened that they imag- 
ined ''seeing things"; but whether these reports are 
true or not, does not alter the case, for the occurrence 
of such things does not prove or disprove the Deity of 
Jesus. 

If Jesus Should Visit the United States. 

If Jesus should appear in the great cities of the 
United States, and attempt to prove that he was God — 
something he never is accused in scripture of doing — 
we believe there are but few Christian ministers in the 
country who would believe it on such evidence as the 
Bible furnishes. He would have to create a few 
worlds and populate them before their eyes before 
they would believe what their creeds teach regarding 
the matter. This statement is based upon their scepti- 
cism of the scientific facts demonstrated in Spirit- 
ualism. 

Legends of miracles performed by saints and sav- 
iors grow and multiply in supernatural power with 
age. As proof of this see 'Warfare of Science and 
Theology," by Andrew D. White, volume 2, page 5; 
subject, "Growth of Legends of Healing — The Life of 
Xavier as a Typical Example." The reader should 
read the entire article. 

On the 17th page the author says: "Although dur- 
ing the lifetime of Xavier there is neither in his own 
writings nor in any contemporary account any asser- 



36 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

tion of a resurrection from the dead wrought by him, 
we find that shortly after his death stories of such res- 
urrections began to appear. A simple statement of the 
growth of these may throw light on the evolution of 
miraculous accounts generally. At first it was affirmed 
that some people at Cape Comorin said that he raised 
one person ; then it was said that there were two per- 
sons ; then in various authors — Emanuel Acosta in his 
commentaries written as an afterthought nearly twenty 
years after Xavier's death, DeQuadros, and others — 
the story wavers between one and two cases; finally, 
in the time of Tursellinus, four cases had been devel- 
oped. In 1622, at the canonization proceedings, three 
were mentioned ; but by the time of Father Bouhours 
there were fourteen — all raised from the dead by Xav- 
ier himself during his lifetime — and the name, place, 
and circumstances are given with much detail in each 
case." May it not be possible that some of the re- 
corded miracles of the Bible are really legends of this 
sort ? Let's reason it out prayerfully. 

Inspired Writers of Gospels Disagree — Genealogies 
of Jesus Contradictory. 
Matthew i., 1st to 17th verses, gives the genealogy 

of Jesus, tracing his lineage from David to Joseph 
through twenty-eight generations; and Luke, chapter 
iii., beginning at the 23rd verse, devotes the remainder 
of the chapter to the genealogy of Jesus, tracing the 
line of ancestry through Joseph, "his supposed father,^' 
back to David through forty-three generations, and the 
names of these ancestors, according to these two in- 
spired gospel writers, are entirely different. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 37 

Though both of these men were supposed to have 
been inspired by God to write these gospels, they dis- 
agree in number of generations and names of ances- 
tors all the way between Joseph and David, but both 
genealogies make out that Joseph was the father of 
Jesus. 

Now, what is to be done about it? Did Matthew 
and Luke receive their inspiration direct from God, 
and was Joseph the father of Jesus? If so, then God 
was not his father, only in the sense that He was, and 
is, the Father of us all. 

Genealogies of Jesus of Nazareth. 

Matt, i., 1, says: *The book of the generation of 
Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.*' 
Then follows the names of the ancestors of Jesus, 
tracing them from Abraham down through David and 
to Joseph the husband of Mary. 

If this first verse of Genesis is true, then David was 
the forefather of Jesus, and if the remainder of this 
chapter is true, Joseph was the father of Jesus; and 
that settles that question. Then, if Joseph was the 
father of Jesus, the Holy Ghost was not his father, 
because one person cannot be the son of two fathers. 

Matthew, chapter i., gives it as follows, beginning at 
the 16th verse and counting back to the 1st verse: 



1 Jesus of Nazar'th. 


8 Sadoc. 


2 Joseph. 


9 Azor. 


3 Jacob. 


10 Eliakim. 


4 Matthan. 


11 Abiud. 


5 Eleazer. 


12 Zorababel.'^ 


6 Eliud. 


13 Salathiel.* 


7 Achim. 


14 Jechonias. 



38 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 



15 Josias. 

16 Amon. 

17 Manasses. 

18 Ezekias. 

19 Achaz. 

20 Joatham. 

21 Ozias. 



22 Joram. 

23 Josaphat. 

24 Asa. 

25 Abia. 

26 Reboam. 

27 Solomon. 

28 David. 



Matt, i., 17, says: "So all the generations from 
Abraham to David are fourteen generations ; and from 
David until the carrying away into Babylon are four- 
teen generations; and from the carrying away into 
Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations." This 
makes 28 generations from David to Jesus. 

Luke, chapter iii., beginning at the 23d verse, gives 
it as follows : 



1 Jesus of Nazar'th. 

2 Joseph. 

3 Heli. 

4 Matthat. 

5 Levi. 

6 Melchi. 

7 Janna. 

8 Joseph. 

9 Mattathias. 

10 Amos. 

11 Naum. 

12 EsH. 

13 Nagge. 

14 Maath. 

15 Mattathias. 

16 Semei. 

17 Joseph. 



18 Juda. 

19 Joanna. 

20 Rhesa. 

21 Zorababel.'*' 

22 Salathiel.* 

23 Neri. 

24 Melchi. 

25 Addi. 

26 Cosam. 

27 Elmodam. 

28 Er. 

29 Jose. 

30 Elieser. 

31 Jorim. 

32 Matthat. 

33 Levi. 

34 Simeon. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 39 

35 Juda. 40 Menan. 

36 Joseph. 41 Mattatha. 

37 Jonan. 42 Nathan. 

38 Elakim. 43 David. 

39 Melea. 

*From Jesus to David there are but three names 
ahke in the two accounts, namely, ''Joseph," which 
occurs in Luke's account four times and once in 
Matthew's account, ''Zorababel" and "Salathiel" once 
in each genealogy. 

There are forty-three generations from Jesus to 
David according to Luke and only twenty-eight gen- 
erations from David to Jesus, according to Matthew, 
and no agreement in names after leaving Joseph or 
David. Strange indeed is this, since the Bible is sup- 
posed to be God's infallible and inerrant truth. Both 
cannot be correct, yet both show that Joseph was the 
father of Jesus. 

If Joseph was not the father of Jesus why should 
Matthew and Luke both say he was, and then trace his 
ancestry from David down through Joseph, to Jesus, 
that an ancient prophecy might be fulfilled ? 

Luke iii., 23, says : "And Jesus himself began to be 
about thirty years of age being (as was supposed) 
the son of Joseph which was the son of HeH." 

Jesus Not God. 
What can be done with this fatal mistake ? It seems 
strange indeed that both of these inspired writers of 
the gospels should take the trouble to trace the gene- 
alogy of Jesus of Nazareth back to David, through 
Joseph, if Joseph was not his father; since Jesus, it is 
claimed by all of the orthodox Christian world, was 



40 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

"begotten of God/' And if David was his father, as is 
shown by the declarations of several persons who lived 
at that time and knew him, why, oh why ! should the 
orthodox Christian Church continue its claim that he 
was "Very God,'' "Creator of the World," etc.? "Come 
now, let us (continue to) reason together." 

John vi., 42d verse: "And they (the Jews) said, 
is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and 
mother we know? How is it then that he saith, I came 
down from heaven?" They supposed Joseph was his 
father. Was it the spirit control speaking through 
Jesus' lips saying "I came down from heaven" ? 

John vii., 16, Jesus says : "My doctrine is not mine 
but his that sent me." 

Verse 42 : "Hath not the scriptures said, that Christ 
Cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of 
Bethlehem?" 

How could Christ come of the seed of David if the 
Holy Ghost was his father? If he came of the seed 
of David, Joseph was his father. If the Holy Ghost 
was his father, do the scriptures misrepresent the 
truth ? 

Jesus Was Known to the People as Joseph's Son. 

Matt, i., 16th Verse : "And Jacob begat Joseph, the 
husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is 
called Christ." This says in plain words that Jesus 
was born of Joseph and Mary. 

Luke iv., 22d Verse: "And they said, is not this 
Joseph's son?" 

John X., 23 : "And all the people w^ere amazed, and 
said, Is not this the son of David?" 

St. Paul, speaking of Jesus being ''Called to' be an 
Apostle;' says: "Which he" (God) "had promised 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 41 

afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures/' ''Con- 
cerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made 
of the seed of David according to the flesh/' 

''And declared to be the Son of God with power 
according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection 
of the dead/' (Romans, i., 1 to 4 verses.) 

If Jesus "was made of the seed of David,'' then 
David was his real father, was he not? 

Acts xiii., 23 : Speaking of David, says : "Of this 
man's seed hath God according to his promise raised 
unto Israel a savior, Jesus." 

The Apostle Philip Declares Jesus Is Joseph's Son, 
and a Descendant of David. 

John i., 45th Verse: "Philip findeth Nathaniel, and 
saith unto him. We have found him, of whom Moses 
in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Naz- 
areth, the son of Joseph." 

Jesus Says He Is a Man. 

John viii., 40, Jesus says : "But now ye seek to kill 
me, a man that hath told you the truth, zvhich I have 
heard of God: this did not Abraham." 

Finally Jesus Himself says: "I am the root and the 
offspring of David." (Rev. xxii., 16.) 

Thus the scriptures testify that Joseph was the nat- 
ural father of Jesus of Nazareth. 

Jesus Not the Only Son of God. 

Romans viii., 14th Verse : "For as many as are led 
by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God." 

Gallatians iii., 26: "For ye are all the children of 
God by faith in Christ Jesus." 

I. John iii., 2d Verse: "Beloved, now are we the 



42 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall 
be." 

Psalm Ixxxii., 6th Verse : '*I have said, Ye are gods ; 
and all of you are children of the most high." 

Who Was Jesus of Nazareth? 

Jesus was a man born of woman. He was a Messiah 
or Christ, a Prophet or Spirit-Medium, and according 
to the scriptures, and according to Modern Spiritual- 
ism, he, the same as every other human being, was 
divine; that is, he was possessed of divine attributes, 
or god-like qualities, and doubtless to a much greater 
degree than those to whom he spoke when he said to 
the ignorant Israelites, **Ye are gods." In this sense, 
and in this sense only, according to scripture, was 
Jesus of Nazareth divine. 

Spiritualism teaches that every child of earth is 
divine and is endowed with infinite possibilities. 

Jesus was a man endowed with an unusual degree of 
spirituality and possessed beautiful spiritual gifts, or 
mediumistic faculties, as will be more fully shown in 
the following chapters of this book. 

Deifying Jesus by the Church a Colossal Error and 
Injurious to True Religion. 

The persistent dogmatism of the Church has wrought 
great injury to true religion. When men of intelligence 
are told that they must believe that ''J^sus is God," 
''Very God" ; that *'by Christ the world was created" ; 
that three gods are one God and one God is three gods, 
and if they do not believe it they will be eternally 
punished for their unbelief, they are often turned away 
from believing in the truth of any religion. It is not 
strange that when a certain great infidel was told that 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 43 

if he did not believe, he would be damned, he retorted, 
saying he "would be damned if he believed/' 

Such assumption has obstructed the advancement of 
the pure, the good and the true contained in the Chris- 
tian religion. The author's earnest prayer is that the 
truth regarding the matter may prevail, and this erron- 
eous dogma may be stricken from the creeds of Chris- 
tendom and from the minds of men. When this is 
stricken from the Christian creeds, and other such 
unreasonable tenets are eliminated, and the Chris- 
tianity of Christ taught in the churches, in its simplicity 
and purity, the world will accept it and the Cause of 
the Lowly Nazarene will grow as it should. 

After reading the statements of these leading Bible 
characters and associates of Jesus, regarding the ques- 
tion of his deity, everyone of whom say that he was 
''a Man," the son of Joseph, a descendant of David, 
etc., and none of them deifying him, the question nat- 
urally arises : Why should the Christian Church deify 
him. 

The following named Bible characters are among 
the ones whose testimony in the matter we have given 
thus far in this work. 

St. Peter, St. Luke, the Angel Gabriel, St. Paul, 
St. Matthew, the apostle Philip, Timothy the disciple, 
and Jesus Christ himself. This testimony, coming 
from the Bible itself and from its leading characters, 
is indeed overwhelming. 

'*Who can believe that God hath ever changed, 

Or that His holy plans have been deranged? 

Yet creeds have so deranged our common sense — 

Our just conceptions of Omnipotence — 

So slandered reason and God's light within, 



44 . JESUS OF NAZARETH 

To doubt that God repents is wilful sin ! 

Within the Bible much I love and bless, 

I might love more if God I could love less ; 

But when I read that God's great plans have failed- 

That He repents, Satan's power prevailed — 

That Satan ruled from Eden to the cross, 

Though finding gold, all this is empty dross ! 

O man, be just, be true to reason's light, 

Defend and cherish all that seemeth right, 

No longer bow to priest's delusive nod, 

But vindicate the attributes of God." 

—Anon. 



CHAPTER IV. 

JESUS OF NAZARETH— CHRIST OR 
SPIRIT-MEDIUM? 

PART SECOND 

Was Jesus a Spirit-Medium? 

Having shown by the scriptures, in the preceding 
chapters, that Jesus was a man like other men, and 
that he was not ''God,'' the ''Creator of the World,'V 
the next thing in order is to take the testimony of the 
Bible in answer to the question, "Was Jesus of Naz- 
areth a spirit-medium?'' 

The True Definition of Certain Biblical Terms. 

Cruden's "Complete Concordance of the Old and 
New Testament," under the heading of "Spirits," 
says : "Good angels are called spirits, immaterial and 
intelligent, but created and dependent beings." Then 
he quotes Heb. i, 14th verse : "Are they not all minis- 
tering spirits?" 

"In the Spirit," or Under Spirit Control. 

'7n the Spirif is a term quite often used in scrip- 
ture, and it always means, under spirit influence or 
control. Spirit-mediums are "in the spirit" when "in- 
fluenced" or "controlled" by spirits. 

Rev. i, 10 — '7 was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, 
and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet." 

Chapter iv, 2d Verse — "And immediately I was in 
the spirit" (controlled by a spirit, as are modern med- 
iums) ^his was followed by a vision. 

Chapter xvii., 3d Verse: The angel carried him 
away "in the spirit" and he had a vision. 

45 



46 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Chapter xxi., 10th Verse : Another such experience. 
He was ''carried away in spirit." 

"Signs," and Spirit Tests, the Same. 

What is called a ''sign" in the scriptures is now 
called by Spiritualists a *'test" or a ''spirit message." 
A "personation," a "physical manifestation," or any 
proof of a spirit manifestation, or communication, may 
prove to be a test or "sign." 

Matt, xii., 38 : "Then certain of the scribes and of 
the Pharisees answered, saying. Master, we would see 
a sign from thee." 

Angels and Spirits One and the Same. 

In the scriptures the following terms are used alter- 
nately to designate the spirits of people who once lived 
in human forms : "Angels," "Angels of God," "Angels 
of the Lord," "Men in Shining Garments," "Men in 
Bright Clothing," "Spirits," "The Spirit," etc., etc. 

Psalm 104, 4th Verse: "Who maketh his angels 
spirits; his ministers a flaming fire. (Hebrews i, 7, 
the same.) 

Acts X., In speaking of the influence that came to 
Peter, placed him in a "trance," caused him to have a 
"vision," then talked to him in a "voice," etc., it is 
called, in the 3d verse, "Angel of God" ; 4th, "Lord" ; 
7th, "Angel" ; 19th, "The Spirit" ; 22d, "Angel," and 
in the 30th verse Cornelius calls it "a man in bright 
do thing f' The 19th and 20th verses of this chapter 
prove that it was the same spirit that Cornelius re- 
fers to. 

"Man," "Angels," "Lord" and "God" Used to 

Designate the Same Person. 
Genesis xix., 1st verse, "Two angels" came to Lot; 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 47 

2d verse, they are called ''Lords"; 5th, "the men"; 
10th, "the men"; 12th, "the men"; 15th, "angels"; 
18th, "my Lord." 

Judges xiii., 3d verse: "Angel of the Lord"; 6th, 
"Angel of God"; 10th, "man"; 11th, "man," twice; 
13th, "Angel of the Lord"; 19th, "the Angel"; 22d, 
"God"; 25th, "Spirit of the Lord." 

Acts X., tells about Cornelius seeing a spirit, who 
afterward manifested to Peter. 

What Is a Scribe? 

''Scribe. 2. Jewish Religion and History. One of 
a class of men devoted to the study and exposition of 
the law; a doctor or teacher of the law; a lawyer."— 
Webster. 

Spirits in Prison 

"Spirits in prison^' means spirits in darkness because 
of their lack of spiritual development; their state of 
ignorance regarding spiritual things. 
• Luke xxiv, 4th verse, says: "And it came to pass, 
as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two 
men stood by them in shining garments!' 

Verse 23: "And when they found not the body, 
they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of 
angels, which said that he was alive." 

It will be seen that what the women call "two men 
in shining garments," these other people who were re- 
lating the circumstance or "vision" call "angels." Thus 
it is shown that these two ''men in shining garments" 
were called angels." And as angels and spirits are 
shown by the foregoing scripture to mean the same, 
it follows that the terms "men," "angels" and "spirits" 
are used to designate the same ones, namely, the spirits 
of men. 



48 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Rev. xxii, 8 : *'And I John saw these things, and 
heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell 
down to worship before the feet of the angel which 
showed me these things.'' 

Verse 9: 'Then saith he unto me, See thou do it 
not : for I am thy fellow-servant, and of they brethren 
the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of 
this book : worship God.'' 

This was a spirit of one of the old prophets, as he 
tells John, and John calls him *Hhe angel.'' Is not 
this enough to prove our position that angels, and 
the spirits of men, are one and the same? If these 
are not enough, great numbers of scripture passages 
may be quoted to prove it. 

''Spirit" signifies an apparition or ghost. See Matt. 
xiv., 26: ''When the disciple saw Jesus walking on 
the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit." 
I. John iv., 1 : "Beloved believe not every spirit, but 
try the spirits whether they are of God : because many 
false prophets are gone out into the world." 

"The Holy Ghost," What Is It? 
Without entering into a discussion here of the mean- 
ing of the term "Holy Ghost," the author will say, if 
one will read the words "spirit power" or "spirit influ- 
ence" or "spirit-control" in the place of the words 
"Holy Ghost," he will have a far better understanding 
of the scriptures in which the words occur. It is very 
evident that the authors of the doctrine of the Trinity, 
as portrayed in the orthodox Christian creeds, did not 
understand its meaning, and in their lack of under- 
standing, gave it the masculine gender ; and because of 
the wisdom and knowledge it seems to reveal, placed it, 
and the man Jesus, whom they had deified, with the 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 49 

Supreme Ruler of the universe, declaring they were 
all three gods and that three gods are one God. This 
seems to have been a fatal error of the church fathers, 
and is rapidly proving to have been such, as it will not 
harmonize with the only infallible book published, 
namely, the arithmetic in its declaration that three 
times one are three, therefore three gods cannot be 
one God. Father, Son, and ''Spirit Power" are not 
one, but distinctly three. 

Pentecostal Feast, a Real Spiritualist Seance, 

Acts ii., 1 : ''And when the day of Pentecost was 
fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.'' 
This being "in accord" made good conditions for the 
seance, as Spiritualists well understand. 

Verse 2 : "And suddenly there came a sound from 
heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all 
the house where they were sitting." Spiritualists 
sometimes experience this kind of a breeze in their 
seances. 

Verse 3 : "And there appeared unto them cloven 
tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them." 
SpirituaHsts often have these lights appear in their se- 
ances and can easily believe these statements. 

Verse 4: "And they were all filled with the Holy 
Ghost and began to speak with other tongues, as the 
spirit gave them utterance." 

A large majority of modern mediums, at times, 
speak with other tongues as the spirit gives them utter- 
ance; that is, they are controlled by spirits to speak 
in foreign languages and tongues. 

Take notice, they were all filled with the ''Holy 
Ghost/' and began to speak in other tongues as the 
^'spirit'* gave them utterance. That this "Holy Ghost" 



50 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

was a ''spirit" is plain. ''Holy Ghost" can have but 
one true meaning and that meaning is as follows : 

^'Holy Ghosf or ''Holy Spirif is better defined as 
''Spirit Power/' ^'Spirit Guide/' ''In the Spirit/' "Spirit 
Control/' or "Spirit Influence/' 

Put these words in the place of "Holy Ghost" or 
"Holy Spirit" and the passage will always be better 
understood. 

"And they were all filled with Spirit Power and 
began to speak with other tongues, as the spirit gave 
them utterance." 

This story of the great seance held at the Pentecostal 
Feast is precisely the same as often occurs with modern 
mediums and Spiritualists. 

Mark xiii., 11, says : "But when they shall lead you, 
and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what 
ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate : but whatso- 
ever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye : for 
it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost" (the Spirit 
control). 

The author has practiced this manner of speaking 
for forty years, and knows its effectiveness, as well as 
that "it is not ye" (he) "that speaks, but the Holy 
Ghost" (Spirit Control) "that speaks." 

Holy Ghost Given by La5dng on of Hands. 

Acts xix., 6: "And when Paul had laid Ai^ hands 
upon them, the Holy Ghost" (Spirit Influence) "came 
on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophe- 
sied." Modern Spiritualism proves the possibility of 
the truth of this statement of scripture. 

In the early days of Modern Spiritualism, at a meet- 
ing of the Friends of Human Progress, in Old Hem- 
lock Hall, at North Collins, N. Y., a medium, Mrs. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 51 

Sarah Farnsworth, was "led by the spirit" to a young 
man. Mr. Bishop A. Beals, and after telHng him that 
he was a medium, and that there was a great work for 
him to do, she placed her hands upon his head, Spirit 
Power came upon him, he arose to his feet and began 
to speak *'as the spirit gave him utterance.'' From 
that day he was an inspired man, and went forth 
'^speaking in the power of the spirit," traveling all 
over this country and delivering the beautiful message 
of Modern Spiritualism to the hungry and spiritually 
famished people all the years of his long and useful 
life. Spiritualists understand the meaning of the term 
''Holy Ghost" or Spirit Power and the ''laying on of 
hands" as no others understand it today. 

Acts 1., 8: "But ye shall receive power, after that 
the Holy Ghost (Spirit Influence) "is come upon you." 

Acts iv., 31 : "And when they had prayed, the place 
was shaken where they were assembled together; and 
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost" (Spirit 
Power) "and they spake the word of God with bold- 
ness." 

Luke i., 67: "And his father Zacharias was filled 
with the Holy Ghost" (Spirit Power) "and prophesied, 
saying," etc. 

Under the influence and power of spirits, men have 
prophesied in all ages, and they continue to do so to- 
day. 

Luke ii., 26: "And it was revealed unto him by the 
Holy Ghost (Spirit Power) "that he should not see 
death before he had seen the Lord's Christ" (the 
Lord's medium). 

In this case, "Simeon" received, through spirit 
power, the knowledge of the fact that he was to see 



52 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Jesus before he passed away, just the same as modern 
mediums receive knowledge of things that are to come ; 
just in the same way as dear Alex. Nichols, of Fort 
Wayne, Ind., received the knowledge of the fact that 
he w^as to die on a certain day, months before his death 
occurred.* 

Verse 27: He was led into the temple *'by the 
spirit." 

Luke ii., 48 : Mary, the mother of Jesus, calls Jo- 
seph Jesus' father. 

Luke iv., 1 : ''And Jesus being full of the Holy 
Ghost (Spirit Power) ^'returned from Jordan and was 
led by the Spirit into the wilderness/' 

Modern mediums are led by the spirit also. 

Acts xix., 6 : ''And when Paul had laid his hands 
upon them, the Holy Ghost" (Spirit Control) "came 
on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophe- 
sied." 

Hebrews ii., 4: "God also bearing them witness, 
both by signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, 
and gifts of the Holy Ghost" (Spirit Power) "accord- 
ing to his own will." 

L Peter i, 12: "Holy Ghost" (Spirit Power) "sent 
down from heaven." 

H. Peter i., 21 : '*For the prophecy came not in old 
time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake 
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (Spirit 
Power) . 

The author has quoted these few passages of scrip- 
ture that the reader may see that the term "Holy 
Ghost" has been greatly misunderstood by the men 
who made the Christian creeds, and that the true 



*See "A Future Life Demonstrated," by Rev. E. W. Sprague, page 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 53 

meaning of the words may enlighten those who read 
this, on the subject of spirit-mediumship ; for when 
mediumship is understood it is plain to be seen that 
Jesus of Nazareth was a spirit-medium receiving mani- 
festations of spirit-power, the same as modern me- 
diums. 

The Holy Ghost Speaks. 

Acts xiii, 2 : ''As they ministered to the Lord, and 
fasted, the Holy Ghost" (Spirit control) ''said, Sepa- 
rate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto 
I have called them/' 

Verse 4: "So they, being sent forth by the Holy 
Ghost'' (Spirit Guide), "departed unto Seleucia ; and 
from thence they sailed to Cyprus." 

Holy Ghost Teaches Disciples. 
Luke xii., 12 : "For the Holy Ghost shall teach you 
in the same hour what ye ought to say." This Holy 
Ghost (Spirit Influence) is the greatest teacher of this 
day, as well as of ancient times. 

Speaking Against the Holy Ghost Not Forgiven. 

Matt, xii., 32 : Jesus says : "And whosoever speak- 
eth a w^ord against the Son of Man, it shall be for- 
given him : but whosoever speaketh against the Holy 
Ghost" (Spirit Control), "it shall not be forgiven him, 
neither in this world, neither in the world to come." 

Jesus held this gift of the "Holy Ghost," "Holy 
Spirit," "Spirit Power," or "Spirit Influence," sacred, 
and considered it blasphemy to speak against it. The 
author of this work feels much as Jesus did about it. 
There is nothing on earth to him so sacred, so beauti- 
ful, so altogether lovely, as this "Power" that permits 



54 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

people in the mortal form to receive messages from 
heaven; because this message proves a future life for 
mankind, brings our loved ones who have "crossed the 
river" back to us, and teaches the great Spiritual and 
Harmonial Philosophy, which will eventually right the 
wrongs of this world and make a heaven upon earth. 

All through the scriptures we read that the ''Holy 
Ghost," or the ''Holy Spirit," came upon men and they 
had "visions," "prophesied, or did some other medium- 
istic act. Or when "in the spirit, they had visions, 
talked with angels, etc. This is what modern mediums 
do, and what they demonstrate is possible to do. 

"Prophet," "Seer," "Man of God," and "Spirit- 
Medium" Have the Same Meaning. 

I. Samuel ix., 9 : "Before time in Israel, when a 
man went to enquire of God, thus he spake. Come, and 
let us go to the seer, for he that is now called a Prophet 
was before time called a Seer." 

The author will add, what "beforetime was called a 
Seer," and later "a Prophet," is now called a. Spirit- 
Medium. 

One who has spirit guides, angel teachers, and re- 
ceives spirit ministrations is a spirit-medium. Anyone 
who sees spirits, hears their voices, or senses their 
presence, is a medium. One who is inspired by a spirit 
to speak, is a medium. One through whom spirits can 
materialize, or through whom the sick may be healed 
by spirit influence and power, is a spirit-medium. Je- 
sus of Nazareth did all of these things. Mediums hold 
communication with spirits of the so-called dead. It 
is not a new discovery. History records the fact that 
these phenomena have been occurring for ages. 



JESUvS OF NAZARETH 55 

Samuel, a "Man of God/' Gave Saul a Fine Spirit 

Reading. 

David, Elijah, Elisha, Moses, Samuel, and many 
more, are called '*Men of God.'* 

L Samuel ix., 3 : Saul's father's asses were lost, and 
he sent Saul and one of his servants to seek them. 

Verse 5 : After traveling over much country and 
failing to find them, *'Saul said to his servant, Come 
and let us return; lest my father leave caring for the 
asses, and take thought for us." 

Verse 6 : The servant said : ''There is in this city 
a man of God'' (a medium), *'and he is an honorable 
man ; all that he saith cometh surely to pass : now let us 
go thither ; peradventure he can shew us our way that 
we should go." 

Verse 7 : Saul tells the servant they have no '*pres- 
ent to bring to the man of God'' (the medium). 

8th Verse: ''And the servant answered Saul again, 
and said. Behold, I have here at hand the fourth part 
of a shekel of silver" (about 15 cents), "that will I 
give to the man of God, to tell us our way." 

Samuel, the man of God," was a good medium, be- 
cause "all that he saith cometh surely to pass." He 
told them the asses were found, which was true. Many 
other things this medium told Saul, proved true, not- 
withstanding the fee was but 15 cents. "Maw of God" 
is only another name for "spirit-medium." 

Bible Ptophets and Seers, Like Modern Mediums, 
Have Spirit-Guides or Familiar Spirits. 

Matt, xi., 14, and Luke i., 17, shows that Elias was 
John the Baptist's spirit guide. 

IL Kings ii., 15: Elijah became the familiar spirit, 



56 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

or spirit helper of Elisha, "The spirit of Elijah doth 
rest on Elisha/* 

Was Esaias One of Jesus' Spirit-Guides? 

Matt, xii., 17: Jesus says: "That it might be ful- 
filled which Avas spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying/' 

Verse 18: "Behold my servant whom I have 
chosen : my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased : 
I will put my spirit upon him'' ("Him'' is claimed to 
mean Jesus), "and he shall show judgment to the gen- 
tiles." (See Matt, viii., 17, also Isaiah xHi., 1. 

Acts xviii., 9 and 10: Jesus becomes Paul's spirit 
guardian and control. 

A Dark Seance. 

Verse 9 : "Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night 
by a vision." (This was another dark seance.) "Be 
not afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace." 

Verse 10: "For I am with thee, and no man shall 
set on thee to hurt thee : for I have much people in this 
city." 

Jesus of Nazareth a Spirit-Medium — His Parents 

Both Mediums. 

According to scripture, both Joseph and Mary were 
mediums possessing "spiritual gifts," and Jesus un- 
doubtedly inherited his splendid mediumship from 
both of them. 

In the first chapter of Matthew we learn of the me- 
diumship of Joseph, his father. 

Joseph a Medium. 
Matt, i., 19, reads as follows: "Then Joseph, her 
hnsbmid, being a just man and not willing to make 
her a public example, was minded to put her away 
privily.'* 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 57 

Verse 20: ''But while he thought on these things, 
behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a 
dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to 
take unto thee Mary, thy wife for that which is con- 
ceived in her is of the Holy Ghost'' (Spirit Power). 

They were married at that time, according to St, 
Matthew. In these two verses he calls Joseph '*her 
husband/' and makes the angel while talking to Joseph 
say, "Take unto thee Mary thy wife/' 

If it is true that a spirit communicated with Joseph 
in his sleep, then he was a spirit-medium. It could 
not be otherwise. 

Verse 24: 'Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, 
did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took 
unto him his wife.'' 

Mary, the Mother of Jesus, a Medium. 

Luke i., 26: "And in the sixth month the Angel 
Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, 
named Nazareth." 

Verse 27: ''To a virgin espoused to a man whose 
name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the 
virgin's name was Mary." 

The Angel Gabriel mentioned here is called by 
Daniel — who was another medium — the ''Man Ga- 
briel/' (See Dan. viii., 15-16; ix., 21.) 

This spirit continues his very interesting commun- 
ication to Mary in Luke, chapter i., 19 to 26. 

This spirit man Gabriel could not have come to Mary 
if she was not a medium. No spirit has been able — 
so far as is known — to appear or manifest on the ma- 
terial plane of life without a material organism from 
which to draw the forces, or through which to mani- 



58 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

fest. None who dwell in the mortal form can manifest 
in this sphere of Hfe without it. 

Mary was a medium because she saw the spirit and 
heard him speak, consequently she was clairvoyant and 
clairaudient. 

We have now shown that both of Jesus' parents 
were mediums. Mediums are born such. Medium- 
ship was inherited by the Nazarene the same as it is 
by people of today. 

Spirits Name Jesus Before His Birth. 

Matt, i., 21 : ''And she'' (Mary) ''shall bring forth 
a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall 
save his people from their sins.'' 

Luke i., 30 : "And the angel said unto her, Fear not, 
Mary : for thou hast found favor with God." 

Verse 31 : "And, behold, thou shalt conceive 
5|c jk ♦ and bring forth a son, and shalt call his 
name Jesus." 

Luke ii., 21 : "And when eight days were accom- 
pHshed for the circumcising of the child, his name was 
called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before 
he was conceived * ^ ^'^ 

Well-Developed Mediums Usually Have a Large 

Band of Spirits — Jesus No Exception 

to This Rule. 

Matt, xxvi., 53 : Jesus says : "Thinkest thou that I 
cannot now pray to my Father and he shall presently 
give me more than twelve legions of angels?" (Spirits). 

Verse 54: "But how then shall the Scriptures be 
fulfilled, that thus it must be." 

In the above statement Jesus infers that he has 
twelve legions of angels, or spirits, at his command, 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 59 

and that they could come and save him from his ter- 
rible fate ; but if he called them the Scriptures would 
not be fulfilled as he had prophesied ; and that he did 
not call these spirit friends, because it would prohibit 
the crucifixion and ruin the plan for the salvation of 
the world. 

The term ''legion" is defined as the chief subdivision 
of the Roman army, containing about 6,000 infantry, 
therefore Jesus claimed to be able to call 72,000 spirits 
to his assistance who would minister to and save him 
from the hands of his persecutors. 

The author has never known a spirit-medium who 
had so large a spirit-band. 

Matt, xiii., 41 : 'The Son of Man shall send forth 
his angels" (spirits) "and they shall gather out of his 
kingdom all things that oflfend and them which do 
iniquity." 

One would think it would require a strong band of 
spirits to accompHsh so much. 

Jesus Attended by Ministering Spirits or Angels. 

Matt, iv., 11 : 'Then the devil leaveth him" (Jesus), 
"and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him." 
He was a subject for spirit influence or they could 
not have ministered unto him. 

Luke xxii., 43 : "And there appeared an angel unto 
him from heaven, strengthening him." 

They came strengthening him, just as they come to 
strengthen our modern mediums when they are ex- 
hausted and to encourage them when they need en- 
couragement. 

Mark I., 9 : Jesus "Baptized of John in Jordan." 

Was it necessary for Almighty God to be baptized 



60 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

by a man? Infinity submitting to consecration at the 
hands of a finite being of his own creation? Reason 
says Jesus was a good and spiritual man. Supersti- 
tion says he was God. 

Verse 10 : "The spirit Hke a dove descending upon 
him." 

Verse 1 1 : "And there came a voice from heaven 
saying J Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well 
pleased/' Was this voice heard clairaudiently by Jesus 
or was it a materialized voice? Was it the voice of a 
spirit, or the voice of God talking to Jesus? If so was 
God, was Jesus God? 

Verse 12: "And immediately the Spirit driveth him 
into the wilderness.'' 

Verse 13 : "And he was there in the wilderness 
forty days, tempted of Satan ; and was with the wild 
beasts; and the angels ministered unto him'' Angel 
ministry is always beautiful. 

"Ministering angels" are "ministering spirits/' and 
they can minister directly only unto those who have 
their mediumistic or spiritual powers developed to the 
necessary receptivity to allow it and he who has those 
powers developed within him is a medium, consequently 
Jesus was a spirit-medium. 

Matt, xxiv., 31 : "And he shall send his angels with 
a great sound of a trumpet," etc. This would be a 
trumpet seance. 

Matt, xvi., 27: "For the son of man shall come in 
the glory of his Father tvith his angels; and then he 
shall reward every man according to his works." 

Evidently Jesus relied on the assistance of his spirit 
helpers. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 61 

Jesus Led by Spirits. 

Matt, iv., 1 : 'Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit 
into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil/' 

Luke iv., 1 : ''And Jesus being full of the Holy 
Ghost'' (Spirit Power), ^'returned from Jordan, and 
was led by the Spirit into the wilderness." 

The author has known mediums who have been led 
into the woods by the spirit, and led to dig roots and 
gather herbs, then to prescribe medicine to be made 
from them for the sick; but no modern medium was 
ever led by a spirit into any place to be tempted of 
the devil, so far as he knows. 

Jesus Develops as a Speaker. 

Matt, iv., 17: 'Trom that time Jesus began to 
preach and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven 
is at hand.'' 

The 23d and 24th verses tell of his teaching, preach- 
ing and healing diseases, and these things are just what 
modern mediums are doing today. 

Verse 24: *'And his fame went throughout all 
Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that 
were taken with divers diseases and torments, and 
those wdiich were possessed with devils, and those 
which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy ; and 
he healed them." 

Dr. H. J. Newton, the great Spiritualist healer, cured 
thousands of people in this manner, and Modern Spir- 
itualism has furnished many mediums who have healed 
the sick as did Jesus, by laying on of hands. 

For more of the records of Jesus healing the sick, 
see Matt, xv., 30; xix., 2; xxi., 14; Mark i., 32-34; vi., 
55-56; Luke iv., 40; v., 18-20; vi., 19; vii., 21, etc. 



62 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

The New Testament records numerous instances of 
Jesus' healing by the laying on of hands. 

Gave Absent Treatments, as Do Modern Mediums. 

John iv., 46: *'And there was a certain nobleman, 
whose son was sick at Capernaum." 

Verse 47: ''When he heard that Jesus was come 
out of Judea into GaHlee, he wxnt unto him, and be- 
sought him that he would come down and heal his 
son : for he was at the point of death." 

Verse 48: ''Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye 
see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." 

Verse 49 : "The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come 
down ere my child die." 

Verse 50: "Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy 
son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus 
had spoken unto him, and he went his way." 

Verse 51 : "And as he was now going down, his 
servants met him, and told him, saying, thy son liveth." 

Jesus a Good Test Medium. 

Verse 52 : ^'Then enquired he of them the hour 
when he began to amend. And they said unto him, 
Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." 

Verse 53 : "So the father knew that it was at the 
same hour, in which Jesus said unto him. Thy son 
liveth : and himself believed and his whole house." 
This test converted the nobleman and his whole house- 
hold. 

This is what Spiritualists call a good test; a test of 
his mediumship. 

Verse 54: "This is the second miracle that Jesus 
did, when he was come out of Judea into Galilee." 

Modem mediums have healed absent patients in the 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 63 

same manner; but no one of them ever thought of 
caUing it a miracle as the writer of this scripture does. 
And more: Modern SpirituaHsm teaches that there 
are no miracles, and explains that these things are 
accomplished through spiritual science and natural law. 
Mrs. J. H. R. Matteson, a medium of Buffalo, N. Y., 
cured thousands of people in this country and in 
foreign lands without any person in the mortal form 
telling her what were their diseases, and without see- 
ing them. 

Jesus a Medium for Independent Spirit-Voices. 

John xii., 27 : Jesus says : ''Now is my soul troubled ; 
and what shall I say ? Father, save me from this hour ; 
but for this cause came I unto this hour." 

Verse 28: ''Father, glorify thy name. Then came 
there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified 
it and will glorify it again." 

Verse 29 : 'The people therefore that stood by, and 
heard it, said that it thundered : others said. An angel 
spake to him/' 

Was the writer of this "infallible truth" present? 
If he was, did he have better hearing than the others 
who differed so much as to what the sounds really 
were? 

If the writer was not present — ^and of course he 
was not — what authority have we for the truth of 
these statements? 

Verse 30: "Jesus answered and said. This voice 
came not because of me, but for your sakes." 

Modern mediums have this power, but the spirit 
voices produced through them are never so loud as 
thunder. 



64 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Luke iii., 22: "And the Holy Ghost'' (Spirit Influ- 
ence) "descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon 
him; and a voice from heaven, which said, Thou art 
my beloved Son ; in thee I am well pleased." 

Matt, xvii., 5 : "While he yet spake, behold, a bright 
cloud overshadowed them: and behold, a voice out of 
the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom 
I am well pleased ; hear ye him." This must have 
been a materialized voice, as they all heard it. 

Luke ix., 35 : "And there came a voice out of the 
cloud, saying. This is my beloved Son : hear him." 

Verse 36: "And when the voice was past, Jesus 
was found alone. And they kept it close, and told 
no man in those days any of those things which they 
had seen." 

Then how did Luke find it out? Was he there? 
No! The story was to him traditional. In Luke i., 1, 
Luke says he is only writing "those things which are 
most surely believed among us." The book of Luke 
is what Luke thought was believed by the people of 
his day. 

Jesus a Mind-Reader. 

Matt, xii., 25 : "And Jesus knew their thoughts, and 
said unto them," etc. 

Luke ix., 47 : "And Jesus perceiving the thought of 
their hearts, took a child and set him by him," etc. 

Luke xi., 17: "But he, knowing their thoughts, said 
unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is 
brought to desolation," etc. 

Matt, ix., 4: "And Jesus knowing their thoughts 
said. Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?" 

John xvi., 19: "Now Jesus knew that they were 
desirous to ask him, and said unto them. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 65 

''Do ye inquire unto yourselves of that I said, A 
little while, and ye shall not see me : and again, a little 
while, and ye shall see me?" 

Luke v., 22: ''But when Jesus perceived their 
thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason 
ye in your hearts?" 

Verse 23 : "Whether is easier, to say. Thy sins be 
forgiven thee; or to say. Rise up and walk?" 

Matt, xxii., 17: "Tell us, therefore, what thinkest 
thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?" 

Verse 18: "But Jesus perceived their wickedness, 
and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?" 

Luke vi., 8: "But he knew their thoughts, and said 
to the man which had the withered hand. Rise up, and 
stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood 
forth." 

Each one of the ten foregoing passages of scripture 
certainly proves that Jesus was a mind-reader. To 
say that he was not is to deny the truth of the scrip- 
tures. 

Jesus an Impressional Medium. 

Mark ii., 8: "And immediately, when Jesus per- 
ceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within them- 
selves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things 
in your hearts?" 

John vi., 61 : "When Jesus knew in himself that 
his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth 
this offend you?" 

These were impressions'^ received by Jesus just as 
modern mediums receive impressions, no doubt. 

Luke XX., 23 : "But he perceived their craftiness, 

and said unto them, Why tempt ye me ?" 

*See ''Mediumship; How Developed," etc., by Rev. E. W. 
Sprague. Subject, ''Impressional Mediumship." 



66 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

John vi., 64: *'But there are some of you that be- 
lieve not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who 
they were that believed not, and who should betray 
him/' 

Jesus Under Spirit Control. 

Luke iv., 1 : ''And Jesus being full of the Holy 
Ghost" (Spirit Power) "returned from Jordan, and 
was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.'' 

Verse 14: "And Jesus returned in the power of 
the spirit" (under spirit control) "into Galilee: and 
there went out a fame of him through all the region 
round about." 

According to these statements of St. Luke, Jesus, 
under spirit influence, was led by the spirit into the 
wilderness, where he resisted the temptations of the 
devil. Mediums nowadays, when under spirit influ- 
ence, are helped to resist evil. 

According to the 14th verse the spirit influence 
was with him when he returned to Galilee ; so he must 
have been under the same influence during all the 
forty days he fasted and was tempted of the devil. 

Jesus a Clairvoyant and Clairaudient Medium — He 
Has a Vision and Hears a Spirit-Voice. 

Matt, iii., 16: "And Jesus, when he was baptized, 
went up straightway out of the water: and lo, the 
heavens were opened unto him: and he saw the spirit 
of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him." 
This was clairvoyance. 

Verse 17: "And lo, a voice from heaven, saying. 
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 
This was heard clairaudiently or it was an independent 
spirit voice. In either case Jesus must have been the 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 67 

medium through whom this manifestation was pro- 
duced, because in the next verse we read : 

Matt, iv., 1 : *'Then was Jesus led up of the spirit 
into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil/' This 
shows that he was a medium because he was *'led" by 
a spirit, and very likely it was the same spirit that 
caused him to see clairvoyantly and to hear clairaudi- 
ently, for it was at that same time. 

Gives Nathanael a Test of His Clairvoyance. 

John i., 47: ''Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, 
and saith of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom 
is no guile." 

Verse 48: ''Nathanael saith unto him. Whence 
knowest thou me ? Jesus answered and said unto him. 
Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast itnder 
the fig tree, I saw thee/' This proves again that Jesus 
was a clairvoyant. 

This test so astonished Nathanael that he responded 
as follows : 

Verse 49 : "Nathanael answered and said unto him, 
Rabbi, thou art the Son of God ; thou art the king of 
Israel." 

Gives Nathanael Clairvoyance. 

Verse 50: "Jesus answered and said unto him. 
Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, 
believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than 
these." 

Verse 51 : "And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, 
I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven open, 
and the angels of God ascending and descending upon 
the son of man." That is to say, Nathanael should see 
the spirit band of Jesus as they came to control and 
aid him, and also, as they went away. 



68 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Jesus a Developing Medium. 

Develops His Apostles as Spirit-Mediums. 

Luke X., 19: ''Behold, I give unto you power to 

tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power 

of the enemy : and nothing shall by any means hurt 

you/' 

Apostles Have Spirit-Guides and Helpers. 

20: "Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the 
spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, be- 
cause your names are written in heaven/' 

Jesus Says They Are Clairvoyant and 
Clairaudient. 
Luke X., 23 : ''And he turned him unto his disciples, 
and said privately. Blessed are the eyes which see the 
things that ye see/' 

Verse 24: "For I tell you, that many prophets and 
kings have desired to see those things which ye see, 
and have not seen them ; and to hear those things which 
ye hear, and have not heard them!' 

Jesus Develops Disciples' Healing Powers. 
Matt. X., 1 : "And when he had called unto him his 
twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean 
spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of 
sickness and all manner of disease." 

Instructs His Disciples in Spiritual Science. 

Jesus went up on a mountain with His disciples 
(mediums) and held what Spiritualists call classes in 
"Psychic, or Spiritual Science." 

In Matthew, Chapters v., vi., and vii., Jesus teaches 
his disciples Spiritualism. He explains psychic law, in- 
structs them in the work of mediumship, and incident- 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 69 

ally contradicts the teachings of Moses in the Old 
Testament, just as do some of our modern mediums. 

Matt. X., 5 : "These twelve, Jesus sent forth and 
commanded them saying: 

Verse 8: "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise 
the dead, cast out devils ; freely ye have received, freely 
give." 

Instructs His Disciples in Inspirational Speaking. 

Matt. X., 19 : "But when they deliver you up, take 
no thought how or what ye shall speak ; for it shall be 
given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.'' 
This entire chapter Jesus devotes to giving His me- 
diums instructions. 

Mark xiii., 11 : "But when they shall lead you, and 
deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye 
shall speak, neither do ye premeditate; but whatso- 
ever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye ; for 
it is not ye that speak but the Holy Ghost'' (Spirit 
Control). 

Matt. X., 20: "For it is not ye that speak, but the 
Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." 

Luke xii., 12: "For the Holy Ghost" (Spirit 
Teacher) "shall teach you in the same hour what ye 
ought to say." Just in this way the spirit helpers 
teach modern mediums inspirational speaking. How 
perfectly clear this is shown. 

Persecution of Mediums Foretold. 

Matt. X., 16: "Behold, I send you forth as sheep 
in the midst of wolves ; be ye therefore wise as serpents 
and harmless as doves." 

Modern mediums sometimes find themselves "as 
sheep in the midst of wolves." 

Verse 17: "But beware of men; for they will de- 



70 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

liver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you 
in their synagogues/' 

Verse 18: ''And ye shall be brought before gover- 
nors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against 
them and the gentiles/* 

Modern mediums suffer like indignities at the hands 
of prejudiced rulers. 

Verse 23 : *'But when they persecute you in this 
city, flee ye into another ; for verily I say unto you, Ye 
shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the 
Son of Man be come/' 

Disciples the ''Light of the World/' 

Matt, v., 12: ''Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for 
great is your reward in heaven : for so persecuted they 
the prophets which were before you." 

13 : "Ye are the salt of the earth.'' 

14: "Ye are the light of the world/' 

All of this is true of modern mediums. Mediums 
are the light of the world. Without mediums there is 
no proof of a life after death, and the whole world 
would be left in spiritual darkness. With their gifts 
and powers, the world has been, and now is, illumin- 
ated with the light that reveals and proves a future 
life for the human race. 

Where There's No Vision People Perish 

I. Samuel, Chapter iii., 1 : "And the word of the 
Lord was precious in those days; there was no open 
vision." 

Proverbs, Chapter xxix, 18th Verse: "Where there 
is no vision the people perish/' How true this is. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 71 

Jesus the Light of the World. 

John viii., 12 : ''Then spake Jesus again, saying, I 
am the Hght of the world ; he that f olloweth me shall 
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." 

In other words : he that accepts the truths he teaches 
does not walk in darkness, but shall, through them, 
and the ''signs" or tests of his powers, become en- 
lightened regarding the spiritual truths he taught, and 
demonstrated through his mediumship. 

Jesus places his twelve selected mediums, called 
apostles — according to these passages of scripture in 
the same class with himself, declaring them all to be 
"the light of the world." Their mediumship brought 
the evidence of a future life, and this light was cer- 
tainly the light to which Jesus is referring in these 
passages of scripture. Let the reader bear in mind 
the fact while reading the above, that the word 
"prophet," "seer" and "spirit-medium" have the same 
meaning always. 

Jesus, Like Some Modern Mediums, Fasts, and 
Probably for the Same Purpose, Namely, 
to Receive Development Spiritually. 
Matt, iv., 2 : "And when he had fasted forty days 
and forty nights" (a la Dr. Tanner, Mr. Rathbone 
of New York, arid other Spiritualists), "he was after- 
ward an hungered." 

Jesus Gave Readings Like Modern Mediums — He 

Gives the Woman at the Well a Reading, 

Telling Her Past and Present. 

John iv., 16: "Jesus saith unto her, Go call thy hus- 
band, and come hither." 



72 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Verse 17: 'The woman answered and said, I have 
no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, 
I have no husband : 

Verse 18 : 'Tor thou hast had five husbands, and 
he whom thou now hast is not thy husband : in that 
saidst thou truly/' 

Verse 19 : "The woman said unto him. Sir, I per- 
ceive that thou art a prophet" (a medium). 

Verse 28 : "The woman then left her waterpot, and 
went her way unto the city, and saith to the men,'* 

Verse 29: "Come see a man, which told me all 
things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?'' (the 
medium). 

Because of the Tests Jesus Gave the Woman at the 
Well, Many Samaritans Believed. 
Verse 39: "And many of the Samaritans of that 
city believed on him for the saying of the woman, 
which testified, He told me all that ever I did." They 
believed on hearsay evidence. 

Many Others Believed Because He Gave Readings 

to Them. 

Verse 40: "So when the Samaritans were come 
unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with 
them : and he abode there two days." 

Verse 41 : "And many more believed because of 
his word;" 

Verse 42: "And said unto the woman, Now we 
believe, not because of thy saying : for we have heard 
him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, 
the Savior of the world." 

There is certainly no better definition of the word 
"Christ" than "medium." 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 73 

Was This Fortune Telling? 

If the above circumstances had transpired in the 
City of Detroit today, and the medium should be ar- 
rested for it, some of the courts might call it Fortune- 
Telling, and possibly he would be fined for practicing 
such an unlawful act. Not because the courts have any 
ill-will toward mediums, but because the Legislature of 
the State of Michigan in 1913 passed an act classing 
such mediumship as is displayed by the Nazarene in 
this case, of "the woman at the well,'' with Fortune 
Telling, and making it a misdemeanor, punishable by 
fine and imprisonment. 

In fact, Jesus could not practice his spiritual gifts 
of clairvoyance, clairaudience, etc., in Michigan if he 
were to come today, without laying himself liable to a 
fine and imprisonment. He could not heal the sick, 
according to Michigan laws, without passing a medical 
examination before the M. D.'s and getting a license 
from them. 

Some one may say : ''J^^us and his apostles did not 
take pay for practicing their 'gifts' of mediumship and 
teaching," Spiritualism. They certainly did take pay 
for such services, and Judas one of the apostles car- 
ried the money bag into which the people put money. 
John xii., 6. xiii., 29. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE CHIEF PRIESTS, SCRIBES AND ELD- 

ERS ASK JESUS FOR PROOF OF HIS 

MESSIAHSHIP, OR MEDIUMSHIP— 

THEY WANTED A "SIGN" 

(OR TEST). 

Matt, xxvii., 39: ''And they that passed by re- 
viled him, wagging their heads/' 

Verse 40: ''And saying, Thou that destroyest the 
temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If 
thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.'' 

Verse 41 : "Likewise also the chief priests mock- 
ing him, with the scribes and elders, said," 

Verse 42: "He saved others; himself Jie cannot 
save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come 
down from the cross, and we will believe him." (See 
43d verse also.) 

Verse 44: "The thieves also, which were crucified 
with him, cast the same in his teeth." 

Ancient Fraud Hunters. 

At the time of his crucifixion they demanded of 
Jesus a "sign" (a "test"), and they displayed the same 
ignorance regarding the laws governing spiritual mani- 
festations, and the same kind of brutality sometimes 
shown by that class of men who are wise only in their 
own conceit, and are denominated "fraud hunters" 
of this day. 

Luke xxii., 64: "And when they had blindfolded 
him they struck him on the face, and asked him, say- 
ing, Prophecy who is it that smote thee?" 

74 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 75 

Others Ask Jesus for More Tests. 

Luke xi., 16: ''And others tempting him, sought of 
him a sign from heaven, (a test from the spirit 
world). 

Matt, xii., 38: 'Then certain of the scribes and 
Pharisees answered, saying. Master, we would see a 
sign from thee." 

Verse 39: "But he answered and said unto them, 
An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign ; 
and there shall no signs be given to it but the sign of 
the prophet Jonas." 

Why did not Jesus give this evil and adulterous 
generation the ''sign," or "test," for which they asked? 
It was the sinners he came to convert, and here was 
his opportunity to prove his messiahship, or medium- 
ship by giving them the test asked for. 

It was this evil and adulterous generation that 
needed to be converted. Spiritualists prefer not to be- 
lieve that Jesus wilfully refused their requests for a 
test, but that he was unable to give it, as they did not 
furnish the necessary conditions, not having "faith" 
(confidence and honesty of purpose), and not making 
the harmonious conditions necessary to the produc- 
tion of spirit-phenomena. He undoubtedly knew it 
would be impossible to make them understand the 
necessary conditions needed to produce the results they 
asked, and consequently evaded an explanation, as he 
often did in other instances of the kind. 

The Devil Doubts Jesus and Wants a Test. 

Matt, iv., 3 : "And when the tempter came to him, 
he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that 
these stones be made bread." Of course, it would be 
impossible for any medium to fulfill this demand of 



76 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

the devil; first, because it is not in the nature of 
mediumship to do it, and if it were, the devil furnished 
very poor conditions for spirit phenomena. How like 
some modern so-called investigators and fraud hunters 
this demand of the devil seems. It will be remem- 
bered that Jesus always demanded that the investi- 
gator have faith. Faith was an essential to results 
with the medium of Nazareth, even more than with 
modern mediums. 

Matt, iv., 5: 'Then the devil taketh him" (Jesus) 
"up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle 
of the temple. 

The devil takes Jesus, who, according to the Chris- 
*^tian creeds, was the '^Creator of the World," and sat 
him on a pinnacle of the temple. The critic would 
naturally ask if the Creator was willing to be thus 
handled by the vile hands of the devil, or was he 
obliged to submit to this rudeness ? 

Verse 6: ''And saith unto him. If thou be the Son 
of God, cast thyself down : for it is written, He shall 
give his angels charge over thee : and in their hands 
they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy 
foot against a stone.'' 

Here the devil does not call him God, and seems 
even to doubt his being the Son of God, and even 
wants him to prove that before he will believe. 

Jesus failed to give the devil this test, so he tried 
another scheme, and offered Jesus all the kingdoms of 
the earth if he would "fall down and worship him." 
Then Jesus turned the devil out, and as soon as he was 
gone his spirit-helpers came to him. 

Verse 11 : "Then the devil leaveth him, and behold 
angels came and ministered unto him." 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 77 

Pharisees and Others Want Tests. 

Mark viii., 11 : ''And the Pharisees came forth, and 
began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from 
heaven (a test from the spirit world), tempting him." 

Verse 12 : ''And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and 
saith. Why doth this generation seek after a sign? 
Verily I say unto you. There shall no sign be given 
unto this generation.'' 

Jesus gives no reason for not giving these poor 
Pharisees a test. He simply refuses, without comment. 

Matt, xvi., 1 : ''The Pharisees also with the Sad- 
ducees came, and tempting, desired him that he would 
show them a sign from heaven'' (i. e., give them a 
test from the spirit world). 

Verse 2 : "He answered and said unto them. When 
it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather : for the 
sky is red." 

Verse 3 : "And in the morning. It will be foul 
weather today : for the sky is red and lowering. O ye 
hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can 
ye not discern the signs of the times?" 

Verse 4: "A wicked and adulterous generation 
seeketh after a sign ; and there shall no sign be given 
unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he 
left them, and departed." 

If Jesus could give these doubting ones a test, why 
did he not do so ; as he gave the doubting Thomas the 
test of his presence, after his death, when he mate- 
rialized with the holes in his hands and in his side? 
(See John xx., 25.) 

John XX., 29: "Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, be- 
cause thou hast seen me, thou hast believed." 



78 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Had Jesus given these doubters some good test, as 
he did Thomas, they too might have beHeved. How- 
ever, the reason seems clear to Spiritualists why Jesus 
did not give these Pharisees and Sadducees, who were 
opposing him, the ''signs'' or ''tests" they tauntingly 
asked of him. There were no conditions made for 
spirit manifestations or the production of spirit 
phenomena. These opponents of Jesus had no faith in 
him or his work. There was no harmony between 
them and the medium of Nazareth, and this probably 
was the reason why he could not place himself in the 
necessary condition to produce the "sign'' they de- 
manded. 

John, Chapter iv., 48: "Then said Jesus unto him. 
Except ye see signs and wonders, ye w^ill not believe." 
They were very skeptical. 

Some do believe without seeing signs and wonders; 
but even they become more substantially grounded in 
their belief after receiving the proof of it; and they 
who cannot believe without the "sign," the "test," the 
proof, should certainly receive it that they may beHeve. 
Therefore, we see no legitimate reason why anyone 
who wanted the proof of the truth of the mediumship 
of the medium of Nazareth should not receive it, pro- 
viding he made the required conditions for its pro- 
duction. 

Jesus a Test Medium and True Prophet. 

Matt, xvii., 22 : "And while they abode in Galilee, 
Jesus said unto them, The Son of Man shall be be- 
trayed into the hands of men." 

Verse 23 : "And they shall kill him, and the third 
day he shall he raised again. And they were exceed- 
ing sorry." 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 79 

Matt. XX., 18: ''Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; 
and the son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief 
priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn 
him to death/' 

Verse 19: ''And shall deliver him to the Gentiles 
to mock and to scourge and crucify him ; and the third 
day he shall rise again/' 

Modern mediums have foretold their own and 
others' deaths as Jesus foretold his, and it is these and 
similar facts that are convincing many people of the 
truth of Modern Spiritualism. 

Mr. Frank Schmid, of IndianapoHs, Ind., some ten 
years before his death told the author and his wife 
that when he passed away he would be a long way 
from home, among strangers, and would die suddenly, 
dropping in his tracks. He was not certain whether 
he would be killed or die from natural causes. This 
prophecy came true. He fell dead in his tracks in 
Denver, Colorado. Many other similar incidents could 
be mentioned. 

Spirit Communion, the Comforter, and Will 
Continue. 

St. John xiv., 12: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he 
do also; and greater w^orks than these shall he do; 
because I go unto my father." 

Verse 16 : "And I will pray the father, and he shall 
give you another comforter, that he may abide with 
you forever.*' 

Verse 17 : "Even the spirit of truth whom the world 
cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither know- 
eth him ; but ye know him ; for he dwelleth with you, 



80 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

and shall be in you." Through their mediumship they 
know him. 

Verse 18 : *1 will not leave you comfortless. I will 
come to you.'' 

Verse 19: *'Yet a little while, and the world seeth 
me no more; but ye see me:'' (if so, it must be clair- 
voyantly) ''because I live, ye shall live also." 

John xiv., 26: "But the Comforter, zvhich is the 
Holy Ghost" (Spirit control), 'Svhom the Father will 
send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and 
bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I 
have said unto you." 

This chapter is full of tlie beautiful teachings of 
Spiritualism. It should be read carefully. 

Verse 29 : Jesus says : ''And now I have told you 
before it came to pass, that, when it come to pass, ye 
might believe." That makes it a test. It would seem 
that his disciples were in great doubt of his ability to 
foretell the future, so he gave them this test. 

In this, Jesus promises to return to his apostles after 
his death. He promises them that their spiritual gifts 
shall continue; that they shall "see" him, and that the 
Comforter, the "spirit of truth," which the world can 
not receive but which "dwelleth" in them, shall be with 
them. This "Comforter," he says, is the "Holy 
Ghost," and the Holy Ghost is "spirit power," "spirit 
influence," or "spirit control." This is all good Spirit- 
ualism, and there is much more of it in the accredited 
teachings and doings of the noble Nazarene. 

More Spirit Communion. 
At the birth of Jesus an angel or spirit came to the 
shepherds and gave them a spirit communication. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 81 

Luke ii., 8 to 15. 

Verse 13 : '*And suddenly there was with the angel 
a multitude of the heavenly host praising God/* etc. 
And these spirits appeared and talked. 

Jesus Knows the Future. 

John xviii., 4: ''Jesus therefore, knowing all things 
that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto 
them, Who seek ye?" • 

Jesus Promises to Hold a Great Trumpet Seance, 

in the Dark. 

Matt, xxiv., 29 : ''Immediately after the tribulation 
of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon 
shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from 
heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken. '^ 

Verse 31 : "And he'' (Jesus) "shall send his angels 
with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather 
together his elect from the four winds, from one end 
of heaven to the other." 

This would certainly be a dark seance, if the light 
of the sun and moon were put out, and the stars fallen 
from heaven, so they could give no light. No modern 
medium would complain that this was not dark enough. 

And his angels (spirits) will speak through the 
trumpet, "with a great sound," calling together the 
elect. This surely would be an ideal trumpet seance. 

This seance has not yet been held so far as the 
author is informed, though Jesus says in the 34th 
verse, "Verily I say unto you, this generation shall 
not pass till all these things be fulfilled." 

Another Dark Seance — Jesus Walks on the Water. 
Matt, xiv., 22 : "And straightway Jesus constrained 



82 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto 
the other side, while he sent the multitude away/' 

Verse 23: ''And when he had sent the multitude 
away, he went up into the mountain apart to pray : and 
when the evening was come, he was there alone/' 

Vense 24: "But the ship was now in the midst of 
the sea, tossed with waves : for the wind was contrary." 

Verse 25 : ''And in the fourth watch of the night, 
Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea/' This was 
the latter part of the night, "the fourth watch/' 

Verse 26: "And when the desciples saw him walk- 
ing on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a 
spirit ; and they cried out for fear/' 

Verse 27 : "But straightway Jesus spake unto them, 
saying, Be of good cheer : it is I : be not afraid/' 

Peter Takes Lessons of Jesus. 

Verse 28: "And Peter answered him and said, 
Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the 
water/' 

Peter Walks on the Water. 

Verse 29: "And he said. Come. And when Peter 
was come down out of the ship, he walked on the 
water, to go to Jesus/' 

Verse 30 : "But when he saw the wind boisterous, 
he was afraid : and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, 
Lord, save me !" 

Verse 31 : "And immediately Jesus stretched forth 
his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou 
of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" If Peter 
had not doubted could he have walked on the water? 

Verse 32 : "And when they were come into the ship 
the wind ceased/' 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 83 

Verse 33: 'Then they that were in the ship came 
and worshiped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the 
Son of God/' 

The Christian often asks why darkness is needed for 
spirit manifestations, and some have gone so far as to 
claim that SpirituaHsts *'loved darkness rather than 
•light, because their deeds were evil." (John iii., 19.) 

Were the deeds of Jesus evil because he chose dark- 
ness rather than light, to walk upon the water ? They 
were not. 

If, as is claimed by Christianity, Jesus came into the 
world to save sinners, and he proved his Messiahship, 
or mediumship, by the ''signs," "wonders" and "mir- 
acles" that he did, why did he choose the night time 
to show this sign of his power by walking on the sea, 
when all of the sinners, whom he came into the world 
to convert, were asleep? Why did he not do it while 
it was yet daylight and he had so many thousands of 
them together that same afternoon when he fed "five 
thousand men besides women and children" with the 
few loaves and fishes? 

If he had done so in the presence of that large audi- 
ence he so generously fed that afternoon it would have 
added to his glory and made more converts. But per- 
haps he required the condition of darkness to accom- 
plish this physical manifestation of spirit power. 
Many modern mediums are used by spirits to over- 
come gravitation. When a table is lifted from the 
floor, or any article carried through the air by spirit 
power, the law of gravitation is overcome, else it could 
not be accomplished. Daniel D. Home, one of the 
modern mediums, was often carried through the air in 
daylight by spirit power. 



84 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Jesus a Materializing and Trance Medium. 

Matt, xvii,, 1 : '*And after six days Jesus taketh 
Peter, James and John, his brother, and bringeth them 
up into a high mountain apart/' 

Verse 2 : *'And was transfigured before them ; and 
his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was 
white as the Hght/' 

Verse 3 : *'And behold, there appeared unto them 
Moses and Elias, talking with him/' 

Verse 4: "Then answered Peter, and said unto 
Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here : if thou wilt, 
let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and 
one for Moses, and one for Elias/' 

Verse 5 : ''While he yet spake, behold, a bright 
cloud overshadowed them, and, behold, a voice out of 
the cloud, which said. This is my beloved Son, in whom 
I am well pleased; hear ye him/' 

Verse 6: "And when the disciples heard it they 
fell on their face, and were sore afraid/' 

Verse 7: "And Jesus came and touched them, and 
said. Arise, and be not afraid/' 

Verse 8: "And when they had lifted up their eyes, 
they saw no man, save Jesus only/' 

Verse 9 : "And as thev came down from the moun- 
tain, Jesus charged them, saying. Tell the vision to no 
man, until the Son of Man be arisen again from the 
dead/' 

In this we learn that Jesus was entranced as was 
Peter afterward, when he went up on the housetop to 
pray, only Jesus was transfigured — that is, his coun- 
tenance was changed — and Peter was not. Peter had 
a vision and Jesus did not. (See Acts x., verses 9 
to 24.) 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 85 

Romans i., 11 : In his epistle Paul says to the Ro- 
mans : 'Tor I long to see you, that I may impart unto 
you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be estab- 
lished." 

Through such facts of scripture as those quoted 
above, Jesus was ''established'' as the "Christ'' or 
''spirit-medium." All of the apostles and saints of 
the scriptures were "established" in their mediumship 
in the same way. 

After His Crucifixion Jesus, a Spirit, Follows Dis- 
ciples' Lectures with Tests. 

After Jesus w^as crucified He became the Spirit 
Guide of His apostles and followed their lectures with 
tests confirming the return of spirits, and a spiritual 
resurrection of the dead, as the Spirit Guides of 
Mediums do today. 

Mark xvi., 20: "And they w^ent forth and preached 
everywhere, the Lord (the spirit of Jesus) working 
with them, and confirming (demonstrating or proving) 
the word (their teachings) with signs (tests) follow- 
ing (following their lectures)." 

Manifestations Occurring with Jesus Not Miracles. 
The real mediumistic phenomena occurring in the 
presence of Jesus has been explained by Spiritualism 
as natural phenomena, and the scriptures themselves 
show it. Jesus required certain conditions to produce 
them and when those conditions were not made there 
were no results. 

Belief Necessary to Results. 
Matt, xxi., 22 : "And all things, whatsoever ye shall 
ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." 



86 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Matt, ix., 21 : 'Tor she said within herself, If I 
may but touch his garment, I shall be whole." 

Verse 22 : ''But Jesus turned him about, and when 
he saw her, he said. Daughter, be of good comfort; 
thy faith hath made thee whole.** 

These statements of the Nazarene show that there 
must be conditions of belief, of faith, to get results, 
and any phenomenon requiring conditions for its pro- 
duction is not a miracle. 

Mark x., 52 : Jesus tells the blind man : "Go thy 
way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immedi- 
ately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the 
way." Faith cured this blind man too. 

When a man wanted the disciples to cure his son, 
who was a "lunatic," or had falling fits, they could not 
cure him, and in Matt, xvii-., 19th verse, they said to 
Jesus, "Why could not we cast him out?" Jesus had 
cast the devil out of him. (See 18th verse.) 

Matt xvii., 20: "And Jesus said unto them. Because 
of your unbelief : for verily I say unto you, if ye have 
faith as a grain of mustard seed ye shall say unto this 
mountain, remove hence to yonder place ; and it shall 
remove : and nothing shall be impossible unto you." 

It is "faith," even as small as a mustard seed, that 
will remove mountains. Without it nothing can be 
done, according to the teachings of Jesus. Why did 
his disciples, who saw his works daily, have no faith? 

Matt, xiii., 58 : "And he did not many mighty works 
there because of their unbelief." 

If unbelief was an obstacle in the way of his doing 
"mighty works," then those "works" were not mir- 
acles; because miracles cannot be dependent upon 
conditions. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 87 

Jesus, Like Modern Mediums, Sometimes Obliged 
to Practice Mediumship in Secret. 

Mark i., 40, 41, 42, Jesus heals the leper. 

Verse 44: Jesus told the leper as follows: ''See 
thou say nothing to any man : but go thy way, show 
thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those 
things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto 
them/' 

Jesus often Instructed his patients to say nothing 
about him. 

The 45th verse says : ''But he went out, and began 
to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, 
insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into 
the city, but was without in desert places : and they 
came to him from every quarter/' 

Other scripture could be quoted but this is sufficient 
for the present. 

Such cases as this often occur in Modern Spiritual- 
ism. Mediums are obliged to work in secret where the 
law is against them and the ministry, the physicians, 
and the legal officials oppose them. 

Jesus Harassed and Persecuted by Officials of the 
Law and of the Church. 

Jesus was terribly harassed and persecuted by the 
officers of the law and the officials of the church of his 
day, for practicing his God-given gifts of mediumship. 

Modern mediums have been made to suffer at the 
hands of the officers of the law and officials of the 
church for practicing their mediumship. 

John v., 16 : "And therefore did the Jews persecute 
Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done 
these things on the Sabbath day." 



88 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

What things had Jesus done? He had healed the 
poor, helpless, ^'impotent'* man, through the use of his 
healing powers. 

Matt, xxvi., 3 : 'Then assembled together the chief 
priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, 
unto the palace of the high priest, who was called 
Caiaphas." 

Verse 4: ''And consulted that they might take 
Jesus by subtilty, and kill him/' 

Mark xi., 18: "And the scribes'' (officers of the 
law) "and chief priests'' (ofificers of the church) 
"heard it and sought how they might destroy him : for 
they feared him, because all the people were aston- 
ished at his doctrine." 

Luke iv., 28: "And all they in the synagogue, when 
they heard these things, were filled with wrath." 

Verse 29: "And rose up, and thrust him out of 
the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon 
their city was built, that they might cast him down 
headlong." 

Verse 30: "But he, passing through the midst of 
them, went his way." 

The things they heard him preach in the synagogue 
filled these officials of the church and state with wrath, 
and they wanted to kill him for preaching these new 
spiritual truths for they feared their congregations 
would be turned from them. 

Persecuted for Practicing Spiritualism. 

Verse 18: Jesus says: "The spirit of the Lord is 

upon me," (that is, he was influenced or controlled by 

this spirit), "because he hath anointed me to preach 

the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 89 

broken-hearted, to preach deHverance to the captives, 
and recovering of sight to the bUnd, to set at liberty 
them that are bruised/' (If the Lord sent him to do 
these things, was he God?) 

All this new thought and spiritual truth, and more, 
he preached under the inspiration of the spirit; and 
these interpreters of the civil law, and of the ecclesi- 
astical law, would have none of it, and ''sought to 
persecute and kill him." Though men have advanced 
greatly, and do not kill their neighbors for every little 
offense as in the days of yore, yet persecution in a 
considerable degree, through legislative enactment and 
otherwise, continues today, and for the same offenses, 
namely, the demonstrating of a future life and teach- 
ing the great religious philosophy of Spiritualism. 

Many more passages of scripture could be quoted, 
but these are enough to prove that Jesus was harassed 
and persecuted by the officers of the law and of the 
churches for practicing his spiritual gifts of medium- 
ship. 

Summary of Part Second. 
In the foregoing chapters undeniable proof is given 
of the spirit-mediumship of Jesus of Nazareth; and 
the testimony comes from Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, 
Peter, Paul, and others who lived in the time of 
Jesus, some of whom, it is said, knew him personally 
and others intimately. 

We have shown — 

1st. That he was a medium for spirit phenomena 
of both the physical and mental phases ; 

2d. That he was born a medium, from parents that 
were mediums; 



90 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

3d. That he was named by the spirits before his 
birth ; 

4th. That he had a large spirit-band of helpers, 
guides, or spirit-guardians; 

5th. That these ministering spirits were his attend- 
ants and aided him in his work; 

6th. That he was an inspirational speaker; 

7th. That he was a magnetic and spiritual healer; 

8th. That he gave absent treatments; 

9th. That he was a test medium ; 

10th. That he was a medium for independent spirit 
voices ; 

11th. That he was a mind-reader; 

12th. That he was a clairvoyant; 

13th. That he was a clairaudient medium; 

14th. That he was a medium for spirit-control; 

15th. That he was an impressional medium; 

16th. That he was a developing medium, endowing 
others with spiritual gifts ; 

17th. That he was a medium for readings; 

18th. That he was a teacher of Spiritual Science; 

19th. That he told the past, present and future; 

20th. That he overcame gravitation; 

21st. That he was a trance medium; 

22d. That he was a materializing medium : Jesus of 
Nazareth was a prophet, seer and spirit-medium of 
great spiritual endowment. And that he became the 
spirit guide of his disciples after his death. 

All of the above is clearly proven in the foregoing 
pages of Part Second of this book; and the evidence 
and testimony of the leading characters of the Bible 
herein mentioned regarding the matter is too over- 
whelming to be successfully refuted. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 91 

According to the scriptures, as has been clearly 
shown in the preceding references, Jesus of Nazareth 
was a man, a highly endowed and powerful spirit- 
medium. 



CHAPTER VI. 

PART THIRD. 

A Review of the Bible Records of the Acts and 
Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, Before and After 

His Crucifixion, With Still Further Proof 

That He Was Not God, But That He Was 

an Inspired Man and Spirit-Medium. 

Introduction. 

There are many scripture quotations recorded in 
the following chapters of this book that the author 
would greatly prefer not to mention, but the truth re- 
garding the godhood, manhood and mediumship of the 
Nazarene may be made clearer by mentioning them. 
In taking evidence one must hear all sides in order to 
arrive at the truth, therefore it becomes necessary to 
consider the unwelcome passages referred to in order 
to prepare the reader for an impartial verdict. 

To the one who has discovered that Jesus was not 
"Eternal God," "Very God," "The Creator of the 
World," and that he was an inspired man and spirit- 
medium, the shock caused by reading the scripture 
referred to will not be so great, because not so much 
is expected from a man — even though he be a highly 
developed, spiritual man, as was Jesus — as would be 
expected from the God of the universe. One can look 
up to, honor, and love him for his good works and 
look upon him as our "elder brother." 

Does Jesus Claim to Be King of the Jews? 

Matt, xxvii., 11: "And Jesus stood before the 
governor: and the governor asked him, saying. Art 
thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus said unto 
him. Thou say est." 

92 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 93 

This claim to the throne of Israel adds proof of his 
human ambition, if nothing more. As Gk)d of the uni- 
verse he would hardly have been complimented by the 
position. He certainly would not aspire to so small a 
place in this mundane sphere. 

Matt. X., 33 : **But whosoever shall deny me before 
men, him will I also deny before my father which is 
in heaven/* 

Is this not what Jesus condemns, namely, an eye for 
an eye and a tooth for a tooth? At least, this makes 
Jesus appear quite human. 

Is This Like the Prince of Peace, or the God of 

the Universe? 

Verse 34: "Think not that I am come to send 
peace on earth : I came not to send peace, but a sword." 

Verse 35 : *Tor I am come to set a man at vari- 
ance against his father, and a daughter against her 
mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in- 
law." 

Verse 36 : ''And a man's foes shall be they of his 
own household." 

Verse 37: *'He that loveth father or mother more 
than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son 
or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." 

Luke xii., 51st Verse: ^'Suppose ye that I am come 
to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather 
division :" 

Verse 52: 'Tor from henceforth there shall be 
five in one house divided, three against two, and two 
against three." 

Verse 53 : 'The father shall be divided against the 
son, and the son against the father ; the mother against 



94 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

the daughter, the daughter against the mother; the 
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the 
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." 

If Jesus made these statements, was he under inspir- 
ation at the time? Perhaps not. They express very 
clearly the human side of his nature. 

Contradictory Teachings. 

Luke xiv., 26 : '*If any man come to me, and hate 
not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, 
and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, 
he cannot be my disciple." 

The Nazarene was evidently in a different mood 
while giving the above passage of scripture from the 
one in which he gave the following : 

Matt, v., 44: ''But I say unto you, Love your 
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them 
that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully 
use you, and persecute you." 

Matt. X., 21 : He further says : *'And the brother 
shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father 
the child : and the children shall rise up against their 
parents and cause them to be put to death." 

Matt, xix., 29 : **And every one that hath forsaken 
houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, 
or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, 
shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit ever- 
lasting life." 

Advising the desertion of one's family is certainly 
more human than divine. 

Scores Lawyers and Did Not Wash Before Eating. 

Luke xi., 37 : "And as he spake, a certain Pharisee 
besought him to dine with him : and he went in and sat 
down to meat." 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 95 

Verse 38: "And when the Pharisee saw it, he 
marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner/' 

This seems to have offended Jesus, as is shown by 
the following quotations : 

Verse 39: ''And the Lord said unto him, Now do 
ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the 
platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and 
wickedness." 

Verse 40: ''Ye fools, did not he that made that 
which is without make that which is within also?" 

After scoring the Pharisees, beginning with "Woe 
unto you Pharisees," calling them "hypocrites," etc., 
a lawyer protests as follows : 

Verse 45 : "Then answered one of the lawyers, and 
said unto him. Master, thus saying thou reproachest 
us also." 

Then Jesus turned on the lawyer : 

Verse 46: "And he said. Woe unto you also, ye 
lawyers ! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be 
borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with 
one of your fingers." 

Verse 47 : "Woe unto you ! for ye build sepulchres 
of the prophets" (mediums) "and your fathers killed 
them." 

Verse 48 : "Truly ye bear witness that ye allow 
the deeds of your fathers : for they indeed killed them, 
and ye build their sepulchres." 

Verse 52: "Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have 
taken away the key of knowledge : ye entered not in 
yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hin- 
dered." 

Let us be fair. This trouble started because Jesus 
did not wash his hands before eating his dinner, and 



96 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

what Jesus said was certainly not complimentary to 
the Pharisee who invited him to dine with him, nor to 
the lawyer who was probably another invited guest, 
nor to any others who may have been present. This 
transaction certainly pays no compliment to the Deity, 
if Jesus were He; especially so, when it is considered 
that Jesus as well as all the people of that day were in 
the habit of eating with their fingers, knives and forks 
being unknown at that time. (See Bible Dictionary, 
by Howard Malcolm, D. D., page 71.) 

Strange Doctrines Taught by Jesus. 

Matt, v., 25 : "Agree with thine adversary quickly, 
whiles thou are in the way with Kim ; and lest at any 
time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the 
judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into 
prison." 

Matt. X., 23: ''But when they persecute you in 
this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto 
you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel 
till the son of man be come." 

Verse 26: 'Tear them not therefore: for there is 
nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, 
that shall not be known." 

Verse 27 : "What I tell you in darkness, that speak 
ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach 
ye upon the housetops." 

Matt. XXV., 29 : 'Tor unto everyone that hath shall 
be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him 
that hath not shall be taken away even that which 
he hath." 

This is good for the rich, but pretty hard on the 
poor. Can this be properly called "Divine justice?" 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 97 

Jesus Teaches Everlasting Hell-Fire, and Mutila- 
tion of Their Bodies. 

Matt, v., 22 : Jesus says : ''Whosoever shall say, 
Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire.'* 

Verse 29 : "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck 
it out, and cast it from thee : for it is profitable for 
thee that one of thy members should perish, and not 
that thy whole body should be cast into hell." 

Verse 30: ''And if thy right hand offend thee, cut 
it off, and cast it from thee : for it is profitable for 
thee that one of thy members should perish, and not 
that thy whole body should be cast into hell." 

Matt. X., 28: "And fear not them which kill the 
body, but are not able to kill the soul : but rather fear 
him which is able to destroy both soul and body in 
hell." 

Luke xii., 5 : "But I will forewarn you whom ye 
shall fear : Fear him, which after he hath killed hath 
power to cast into hell ; yea, I say unto you, fear him." 

Matt, xxiii., 33: "Ye serpents, ye generation of 
vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" 

Matt, xviii., 7: "Woe unto the world because of 
offenses ! for it must needs be that offenses come ; 
but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh !" 

Verse 8: "Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot 
offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee : it 
is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, 
rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast 
into everlasting fire." 

Verse 9: "And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it 
out, and cast it from thee : it is better for thee to enter 
into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to 
be cast into hell-fire." 



98 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Everlasting Fire. 

Matt. XXV., 41st Verse: "Then shall he say also 
unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye 
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and 
his angels." 

Everlasting Punishment. 

Verse 46: *'And these shall go away into everlast- 
ing punishment : but the righteous into life eternal." 

If a modern medium should advise the cutting off of 
feet or hands, or the plucking out of an eye, he would 
naturally be sent to a lunatic asylum, or the peniten- 
tiary, and nobody would pity him. Is not the doctrine 
of hell fire and eternal punishment a doctrine of eternal 
folly and a disgrace to civilization as well as an insult 
to the Great Giver of life? 

We are in doubt about Jesus having taught this 
terrible doctrine of eternal punishment. His teach- 
ings of the beautiful doctrine of "love your enemies. 
Bless them that curse you," etc., certainly contradicts 
these doctrines of eternal punishment which is 
attributed to Jesus by his biographers. 

These are the teachings attributed to Jesus, and it 
may bother even the Russellites to prove that the Bible 
does not teach eternal punishment without proving 
themselves infidels. 

Sycamine Tree^ — Remove by Faith. 

Luke, xvii., 5 : "And the apostles said unto the 
Lord, Increase our faith." 

Verse 6: "And the Lord said, 'If ye had faith as a 
grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine 
tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou 
planted in the sea, and it should obey you." 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 99 

Belief Will Remove Mountains. 

Mark xi., verse 23 : 'Tor verily I say unto you, that 
whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou re- 
moved, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not 
doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things 
which he saith shall come to pass ; he shall have what- 
soever he saith." 

Verse 24: 'Therefore I say unto you, what things 
soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive 
them, and ye shall have them/' 

Whether the meek and humble Nazarene ever pre- 
tended to teach such absurd doctrines as these just 
quoted is a question with many men, since it is a fact 
that he never wrote a word of the scriptures and no 
one living has the knowledge of the truthfulness of 
the writers. One thing strongly contradicts the sup- 
position that Jesus uttered the words of these pass- 
ages; that is, that in other passages of scripture he is 
made to say such beautiful things and to teach such 
spiritual lessons that it becomes hard to believe that 
he ever uttered such horrible words of condemnation 
and punishment. He taught the doctrine of "love your 
enemies," then is made to teach that God burns His 
enemies forever. One might be tempted to ask why 
God does not set the example by loving His enemies 
instead of torturing them. 

Progression is abroad in the land and evolution is 
the law. The world is growing wiser and better. Even 
the Russellites have joined the Spiritualists, the Uni- 
tarians, the Universalists and others in teaching the 
error of the doctrine of eternal punishment. The 
world moves, God rules, and all is well in His king- 
dom. 



100 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Jesus Beside Himself, Friends Say. 

Mark iii., xxi. : ''And when his friends heard of it, 
they went out to lay hold on him : for they said, he is 
beside himself.'* 

Ignorant people of this day sometimes call Spiritual- 
ists and mediums beside themselves or insane. His- 
tory repeats itself. 

Jesus Uses Language Not Elegant. 

Jesus of Nazareth, the grand man and spiritually de- 
veloped medium, was possessed of weaknesses like 
other men. He was indeed human, and he was also a 
humanitarian. 

Some of the evidences of his being human, and only 
a man, will be quoted here ; not for the purpose of cast- 
ing a reflection upon the character of the good man; 
but, for the purpose of assisting the reader in ascer- 
taining the facts regarding who and what the Nazarene 
really was according to the scriptures. 

It is not a pleasant task to do this; nevertheless, 
truth demands that it be done. 

Matt, v., 22 : "But I say unto you, That whosoever 
is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in 
danger of the Judgment and whosoever shall say to his 
brother, Raca*' (worthless), ''shall be in danger of the 
council : hut whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be 
in danger of hell fire!' 

Notwithstanding this statement, that to say "thou 
fool*' places one "in danger of hell fire,** Jesus himself 
uses the term quite freely as follows : 

Matt, xxiii., 17: "Ye fools and blind: for whether 
is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the 
gold?** 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 101 

19: ''Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, 
the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?'* 

Luke xxiv., 25 : 'Then he said unto them, O fools, 
and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets 
have spoken/* This Jesus said when he was a mate- 
rialized spirit. 

See 31st verse, which says he vanished out of sight. 

Luke xi., 40 : "Ye fools, did not he that made that 
which is without make that which is within also?*' 

According to the above scripture Jesus four times 
violates the law he gives for others to follow, and en- 
dangers his own soul being "cast into hell." Such in- 
consistent teachings must naturally cause one to doubt 
the accuracy of the statements of this scripture, or the 
deity of Jesus. 

Jesus Angry. 

Matt, xxiii., 23 : "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pha- 
risees, hyprocrites ! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise 
and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters 
of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought 
ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." 

Verse 24 : "Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, 
and swallow a camel." 

Verse 25 : "Woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, 
hypocrites! etc." 

Verse 33 : "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how 
can ye escape the damnation of hell." 

It becomes a question of belief regarding whether 
the sweet dispositioned and gentle Nazarene ever for- 
got his beautiful serenity of mind to utter such whole- 
sale vituperation as the above ; and yet, in so many in- 
stances he is reported to have manifested this spirit, it 
can only be accounted for by the fact that he was a 



102 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

man like other men, and had his moods as modem 
spirit mediums have theirs. 

Luke xix., 27: ''But those mine enemies, which 
would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, 
and slay them before me/' 

Mark iii., 5 : ''And when he had looked round 
about on them with anger, being grieved for the hard- 
ness of their hearts,'' etc. 

Instructs Disciples to Buy Swords. 

Luke xxii., 36 : "Then said he unto them, But now, 
he that hath a purse let him take it, and likewise his 
scrip : and he that hath no sword, let him sell his gar- 
ment and buy one." 

Matt, xxvi., 52 : "Then said Jesus unto him. Put up 
again thy sword in his place : for all they that take the 
sword shall perish with the sword." 

Why did Jesus instruct them to buy swords if he 
would not let them use them, and if "they that use 
them shall perish by them"? 

This seems to contradict the teachings of the 
"Prince of Peace" where he says : Love your enemies, 
etc. Did Jesus say these things, or were his biogra- 
phers mistaken, or were these mistakes in the transla- 
tion of his sayings. There are no indications of a 
warlike spirit throughout the whole history of this 
spiritual man, with the exception of a comparatively 
few such statements as quoted above. 

The reader should keep in mind the fact that not 
a word of the New Testament was written until more 
than a half century after the death of Jesus and was 
all written from hearsay and tradition, and yet the 
authors assume to give the exact words spoken in each 
particular case. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 103 

Luke Wrote Only Things Believed, Not Things 

Inspired of God. 

Luke made no claim of being inspired of God. He 
wrote the things which were beheved among them. 

Luke i., 1, says : ''Forasmuch as many have taken 
in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those 
things zvhich are most surely believed among us;'' 

Verse 2 : ''Even as they delivered them unto us, 
which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and min- 
isters of the word; 

Verse 3 : "It seemed good to me also, having had 
perfect understanding of all things from the very first, 
to write unto thee in order, most excellent The- 
ophilus.'' 

Verse 4: "That thou mightest know the certainty 
of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.** 

Luke makes no claim to being "inspired of God'* to 
write the book of Luke. He simply writes what was 
"most surely believed among us,*' as he says. This 
being true, may there not be some things that were be- 
lieved by these early Christians, that were not infal- 
lible truth? Such is the light in which many good 
Christians and able thinkers look up the scriptures 
in this day. 

Mediums Not Perfect^ — Was Jesus an Exception? 

Some people who oppose Spiritualism seem to think 
that modern mediums should be perfect in every re- 
spect, since they are in communication with the spirits 
of the dead, and some of them are quite sure that 
Jesus and his apostles were perfect, both in their lives 
and in their teachings. Therefore, without discussing 
the question, the author will try to enlighten such per- 



104 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 



sons by quoting the scriptures which show that ancient 
mediums, including the noble and fearless Nazarene, 
were not entirely faultless. 

Jesus speaking of himself says : 

Matt, xix., 17: '*And he said unto him, Why callest 
thou me good? There is none good but one, that is 
God." This shows that Jesus makes no claim to 
being God. 

Rom. iii., 10: ''As it is written, There is none 
righteous, no, not one." 



CHAPTER VII. 
SPIRIT-HEALING. 

Jesus Used Suggestion in Healing the Sick. 

Few people, even of this day, reaHze the mighty 
power of mental suggestion. The Nazarene evidently 
understood it well, and practically and successfully ap- 
plied it. 

He always taught his disciples and his patients to 
have faith, and when he could not heal, or when he 
failed, he attributed it to the lack of faith of his 
patient, saying, *'0, ye of little faith/' etc. 

Matt, xxi., 21 : ''J^sus answered and said unto 
them, Verily I say unto you, // ye have faith, and 
doubt not, ye shall not only do this, which is done to 
the fig tree" (Jesus had caused the fig tree to wither), 
''hut also, if ye shall say unto this mountain. Be thou 
removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be 
done." 

Verse 22 : "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask 
in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." Was Jesus an 
extremist? 

Healing by Faith. 

Matt, ix., 20: ''And behold, a woman, which was 
diseased . . . came behind him, and touched the 
hem of his garment/' "** 

Verse 21: 'Tor she said within herself, 3f I may 
but touch his garment, I shall be whole.'* < 

Verse 22 : "But Jesus turned him about, and when 
he saw her, he said. Daughter, be of good comfort; 
thy faith hath made thee w^hole. And the woman was 
made whole from that hour." Her "faith" makes the 
woman "whole," or heals her. 

105 



106 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Verse 28: ''And when he was coming into the 
house, the bhnd men came to him : and Jesus saith 
unto them, BeHeve ye that I am able to do this? They 
said unto him, Yea Lord ;" 

Verse 29: 'Then touched he their eyes (magne- 
tizing them), saying. According to your faith be it 
unto you.'' That is, if their "faith'' was strong 
enough to estabHsh the suggestion that they were to 
be healed, the act would be accomplished. 

Verse 30: Proves their faith was perfect, for it 
says : "And their eyes were opened," etc. 

Matt, xiv., 31 : Peter could not walk on the water 
because of his lack of faith. Jesus said to him when 
he pulled him out of the water: "O, thou of little 
faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" So it was his 
"doubt" that caused him to sink, it must be supposed. 

Matt, xiii., 58: "And he" (Jesus) "did not many 
mighty works there, because of their unbelief." One 
to be healed must "believe." To work a miracle men 
must "have faith" in the miracle worker. Suggestion 
heals today as it did in the time of Jesus. 

Mark ix., 23: "Jesus said unto him. If thou canst 
believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 

Mark xi., 24: "Therefore I say unto you. What 
things soe/er ye desire, w^hen ye pray, believe that ye 
receive th nt, and ye shall have them." 

SpiritUr lists understand that the patient who has 
confidence in his healer is more receptive to the mag- 
netic and spiritual forces of the healer, and conse- 
quently receives more benefit because of this state of 
mind. 

Mental suggestion is a mighty power in healing the 
sick. When the mind is right the system absorbs the 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 107 

magnetic and spiritual forces readily, and so it proved 
in the work of Jesus. 

Jesus Heals Magnetically and Spiritually. 

Mark i., 40: Jesus heals the leper. *'And there 
came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling 
down to him, and saying unto him, if thou wilt, thou 
canst make me clean." 

Verse 41 : "And Jesus, moved with compassion, put 
forth Ai^ hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, 
I will; be thou clean." 

Verse 42: ''And as soon as he had spoken, im- 
mediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was 
cleansed." 

Casts Seven Devils Out of One Woman. 

Mark xvi., 9: "Now when Jesus was risen early 
the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary 
Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils." 

Luke vii., 21 : "And in that same hour he cured 
many of their infirmities and plagues and of evil 
spirit; and unto many that were blind he gave sight." 

Modern mediums heal their patients in like manner, 
though not many Spiritualists believe that evil spirits 
cause disease. 

Jesus Institutes the Lord's Supper. 

Matt, xxvi., 26: "And as they were eating, Jesus 
took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to 
the disciples, and said. Take, eat; this is my body." 

Verse 27 : "And he took the cup, and gave thanks 
and gave it to them, saying. Drink ye all of it ;" 

Verse 28 : "For this is my blood of the New Testa- 
ment which is shed for many, for the remission of 
sins." 



108 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

The people who take the sacrament in our orthodox 
churches are certainly too sensible to think they are 
eating the flesh of the good man Jesus, and drinking 
his blood, spilled on Mt. Calvary some eighteen cen- 
turies ago. 

When Jesus gave them the bread saying it was his 
body, they knew it was not. They knew the wine was 
not his blood. He was in possession of his body and 
blood at that time. If Jesus gave them this simple 
ceremony to take the place of the sacrifice of animals, 
which rite was instituted by Moses, in the place of hu- 
man sacrifice, as it has been said — then it was well ; 
but it is hardly suitable to this century of scientific 
achievement. 

Is Marriage a Divine Ordinance? 

Luke XX., 34 : "And Jesus answering said unto 
them. The children of this world marry and are given 
in marriage." 

Verse 35 : *'But they which shall be accounted 
worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from 
the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage." 

Surely, if one must live single all his life to be 
worthy of the resurrection from the dead, then, pos- 
sibly, marriage may not .be a divine institution, as 
most people believe. 

Jesus Corroborates the Story of Jonah and the 

Whale. 

Matt, xii., 40: "For as Jonas was three days and 
three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of 
Man be three days and three nights in the heart of 
the earth." 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 109 

His body was not placed in the earth at all, and it 
was not three days in the tomb. 

Jesus Turns Water Into Wine. 

John ii., 1 : ''And the third day there was a mar- 
riage in Cana of Gallilee; and the mother of Jesus 
was there 'J* 

Verse 2 : ''And both Jesus was called, and his 
disciples, to the marriage." 

Verse 3 : "And when they wanted wine, the mother 
of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine." 

Verse 4 : "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have 
I to do with thee? Mine hour has not yet come." In 
this is Jesus showing respect for his mother? 

Verse 5 : "His mother saith unto the servants, 
Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it/' 

Verse 6: "And there were set there six waterpots 
of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the 
Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece." 

Verse 7: "Jesus saith unto them. Fill the water- 
pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim." 

Verse 8 : "And he saith unto them, Draw out now, 
and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they 
bare it/' 

Verse 9: "When the ruler of the feast had tasted 
the water that was made wine, and knew not whence 
it was : (but the servants which drew the water knew ;) 
the governor of the feast called the bridegroom." 

Verse 10: "And saith unto him. Every man at the 
beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men 
have well drunk, then that which is worse : but thou 
hast kept the good wine until now." 

Verse 11: "This beginning of miracles did Jesus 
in Cana of Gallilee, and manifested forth his glory; 



110 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

and his disciples believed on him." Some fail to see 
the ^'manifestation of glory" in this. 

This was the first "miracle" performed by the 
Nazarene, and stands as favoring the liquor advocates 
of the present generation as well as all others since 
the time of the performance of this so-called miracle. 

For the good of the cause of Christianity would it 
not have been much better if Jesus had turned the 
wine into water before the attendants at the feast had 
*'well drunk" ? What a pity he did not set this example 
of temperance before the world ! 

The thought that the "God of the Universe" would 
turn ninety gallons of water into wine that the drink- 
ing might continue after all the other wine had been 
drunk is not a manifestation of the spirituality a poor 
mortal would naturally be looking for in such an ex- 
alted being as the "Eternal God," as Jesus is declared 
in the Christian creeds to be. 

Money in Fish's Mouth, Novel Way of Paying 

Poll Tax. 

Was it a miracle? There's nothing in Spiritualism 
like it. 

Matt, xvii., 24: "And when they were come to 
Capernaum, they that received tribute-money came 
to Peter, and said. Doth not your master pay tribute?" 

25 : "He saith. Yes. And when he was come into 
the house, Jesus prevented him, saying. What thinkest 
thou Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take 
custom or tribute? of their own children, or of 
strangers?" 

Verse 26: "Peter saith unto him. Of strangers, 
Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free." 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 111 

Verse 27: '^Notwithstanding, lest we should offend 
them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take 
up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast 
opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: 
that take, and give unto them for me and thee." 

Does the proof of the Deity of Jesus depend upon 
such stories as this? 

Jesus Overturns the Tables of Money-Changers. 

Matt, xxi., 12 : "And Jesus went into the temple 
of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in 
the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money- 
changers, and the seats of them that sold doves.'' 

Verse 13: ''And said unto them, it is written. My 
house shall be called the house of prayer ; but ye have 
made it a den of thieves." 

Verse 14: "And the blind and the lame came to 
him in the temple ; and he healed them." 

Verse 15: "And when the chief priests and scribes 
saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children 
crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son 
of David ; they were sore displeased." Was this God- 
like? 

Because this great reformer healed the sick by new 
but effective methods, and because the common people 
approved of his reforms, the priests and scribes "were 
sore displeased." How strange! And yet, is it not 
the same today? 

Sabbath According to Jesus. 
Matt, xii., 1st Verse: "At that time Jesus went on 
the Sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples 
were an hungered, and begun to pluck the ears of corn, 
and to eat." 



112 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Verse 2 : "But when the Pharisees saw it, they said 
unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not 
lawful to do upon the Sabbath day." 

Verse 3: ''But he said unto them, Have ye not 
read what David did, when he was an hungered, and 
they that were with him;" 

Verse 4 : **How he entered into the house of God, 
and did eat the shew-bread, which was not lawful for 
him to eat, neither for them w^hich were with him, but 
only for the priests?" 

Verse 5 : ''Or have ye not read in the law, how 
that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple pro- 
fane the Sabbath, and are blameless?" 

John ix, 16th Verse: "Therefore said some of the 
Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth 
not the Sabbath day. Others said. How can a man that 
is a sinner do such miracles? and there was a division 
among them." 

It is strange that these people who saw Jesus and 
witnessed his work should disbelieve him and pro- 
nounce him a sinner if he were God. 

Mark ii., 27, Jesus says: "The Sabbath was made 
for man, and not man for the Sabbath :" 

Verse 28 : "Therefore the Son of Man is Lord also 
of the Sabbath." 

Jesus healed the sick on the Sabbath day. (Matt, 
xii., 10 to 14; Luke xiii., 10 to 18.) 

John v., 16 : "And therefore did the Jews persecute 
Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done 
these things on the Sabbath day." 

Verse 17: "But Jesus answ^ered them, My Father 
worketh hitherto, and I work." 

This was a splendid answer to those bigoted Jews, 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 113 

for God works unceasingly throughout all nature, 
never stopping to observe the Sabbath day. 

In this Jesus did nothing wrong. His disciples 
picked com to eat because they were hungry and 
Jesus healed the sick on the Sabbath day. Thank 
Heaven, there are few so foolish as to think it a crime 
against God to do either in this day ! 

Paul's Liberal Views Regarding the Sabbath. 

Romans xiv., 5 : *'One man esteemeth one day above 
another : another esteemeth every day alike. Let every 
man be fully persuaded in his own mind." 

Collossians ii., 16 : **Let no man therefore judge you 
in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of 
the new moon, or of the Sabbath day :" 

Since Jesus was Paul's spirit-guide, it is easy to see 
why he voiced the liberal sentiment of the Nazarene. 

Jesus Taught That Evil Spirits, Unclean Spirits 
and Devils Caused Disease. 

Some modern mediums unfortunately teach this 
ancient doctrine.* 

Matt. X., 1st Verse: *'And when he had called unto 
him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against 
unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all man- 
ner of sickness and all manner of disease." 

Devil Was Dumb. 

Luke xi., 14: "And he was casting out a devil, and 
it was dumb, and it came to pass, when the devil was 
gone out, the dumb spake ; and the people wondered." 

Matt, xii., 22 : 'Then was brought unto him one 
possessed with a devil, blind and dumb : and he healed 



'^See ''Spirit Obsession a False Doctrine," by Rev. E. W. 
Sprague. 



114 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

him, insomuch that the bUnd and dumb both spake 
and saw/^ 

In the above case a devil causes speechlessness and 
blindness. 

Plagues Caused by Unclean Spirits. 
Mark iii., 10th Verse: *Tor he had healed many; 
insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, 
as many as had plagues." (Plagues, here, signifies 
diseases.) 

Insane Man Possessed of "Legion" of *'Unclean 

Spirits." 

So many should be enough to make a man insane, 
one would suppose. 

Mark v., 1 to 20, Verse 15, states that the man 
was left in his right mind. So according to Jesus the 
unclean spirit that he cast out caused the man to be 
insane. 

Luke iv., 33 : "And in the synagogue there was a 
man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried 
out with a loud voice." 

Verse 34 says this unclean devil talks to Jesus. Did 
he talk through the man he obsessed, or independent 
of him? 

Verse 35 : ''And Jesus rebuked him saying, Hold 
thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil 
had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and 
hurt him not." 

Mark vi., 7: "And he called unto him the twelve, 
and began to send them forth by two and two; and 
gave them power over unclean spirits." 

Mark i., 25 : "And Jesus rebuked him, saying. Hold 
thy peace, and come out of him." 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 115 

Verse 26: "And when the unclean spirit had torn 
him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him." 

Mark iii., 11 : *'And unclean spirits when they saw 
him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art 
the Son of God." How did they know ? How did they 
do it ? Did they speak through the mouths of the per- 
sons they v/ere obsessing? Or had they bodies of their 
own? Who knows? 

Verse 14: *'And he ordained twelve, that they 
should be with him, and that he might send them forth 
to preach." 

Verse 15: ''And to have power to heal sickness, 
and to cast out devils." 

Lunatics Possessed of the Devil? 

Matt, xvii., 14th Verse : "And when they were come 
to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, 
kneeling down to him and saying." 

Verse 15: "Lord, have mercy on my son: for he 
is lunatic, and sore vexed : for of ttimes he falleth into 
the fire, and oft into the water." This is more like 
epilepsy or falling fits than obsession or insanity. 

Verse 16: "And I brought him to thy disciples, 
and they could not cure him." 

Verse 17: "Then Jesus answered and said, O faith- 
less and perverse generation, how long shall I be with 
you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither 
to me." 

Verse 18: "And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he 
departed out of him: and the child was cured from 
that very hour." 

A belief in this doctrine of "evil spirits," "unclean 
spirits" and "devils" possessing people and causing 
disease, "lunacy," etc., was almost universal in the 



116 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

time of Jesus, and he seems to have accepted it, even 
though such doctrine does seem to partake of witch- 
craft and black magic. 

Exodus xxii., Verse 18, says : 'Thou shalt not suf- 
fer a witch to Hve." 

None but the extremely ignorant believe in witch- 
craft in these days of scientific attainment. Science 
explains the cause of these diseases that Jesus at- 
tributed to ''evil spirits," "devils," etc. Spiritualists 
understand how these diseases were cured by the 
Nazarene. They were accomplished by natural law 
and are scientifically explained by the philosophy of 
Spiritualism. There are no miracles. 

Jesus Casts Devils Enough Out of One or Two Men 

to Drive Two Thousand Hogs to Suicide — 

Nothing Equal to This in Spiritualism. 

Matt, viii., verses 28 to 34, tells the story of Jesus 
casting out of two persons enough devils to fill "a herd 
of swine" and they "ran violently down a steep place 
into the sea, and perished in the waters." 

Mark v., 1 to 17, tells the same story, but says ^*t was 
"a man with an unclean spirit." His name was "Le- 
gion." Jesus cast him, or them, out. There must have 
been two thousand of these "devils" in this one man, as 
Jesus allowed them to enter into the "two thousand 
swine" and they "ran down a steep place into the sea, 
and were choked in the sea." 

This poor man must have been terribly obsessed. 
This story has a tendency to cause one to doubt the 
record. Two thousand devils seems to be too many 
for one man to carry around. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 117 

Obsession, Did Jesus Believe in It? 

The author is not wholly convinced that Jesus him- 
self really believed in ''spirit obsession/' May it not 
have been true that Jesus allowed the people of that 
time, who were ignorant believers in ''spirit obsession'* 
or "spirit possession" ; to continue in that belief, rather 
than attempt to convince his ignorant patients one by 
one as he treated them, that it was not evil spirits that 
was causing their diseases? This would have been 
an everlasting job, as each patient would have to be 
convinced that he was not obsessed before the svig- 
gestive powers of Jesus would take effect with them. 
Let us remember that Jesus never wrote a word of 
these Scriptures, and that the writers were full be- 
lievers in obsession; consequently we cannot say they 
were more accurate on this question than upon some 
others in which they erred. 

If we substitute the word "diseases" for "evil 
spirits" and "unclean spirits" as Jesus called them, it 
sounds better, and makes a more reasonable story : 
For instance : "Mary Magdalene, out of whom he cast 
seven devils," would read: Mary Magdalene, out of 
whom he cast seven diseases. 

Or the scripture statement that a man "possessed 
of a legion of devils," changed to that of a man "pos- 
sessed of a legion of diseases," or "his diseases were 
legion.""^ 

To be sure, this would hardly explain the story of 
Jesus sending the devils into the swine, unless he cast 
two thousand diseases out of the poor Gadarene man, 
and sent one disease into each pig. But even that 



*For more, see "Spirit-Obsession: A False Doctrine and 
a Menace to Modern Spiritualism," by Rev. E. W. Sprague. 



118 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

story would be improved by using the word ''diseases/' 
Many other passages of scripture would appear more 
reasonable if this word were substituted. 

Israelites Doubt Identity of Jesus — Believed in 
Reincarnation. 

Mark vi., 14 : ''And King Herod heard of him; (for 
his name was spread abroad:) and he said, That John 
the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore 
mighty works do show forth themselves in him." 

Verse 15: "Others said, That it is Elias. And 
others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the 
prophets." 

Verse 16: "But when Herod heard thereof, he 
said, It is John whom I beheaded: he is risen from 
the dead." 

Matt, xvi., 14: "And they said. Some say that thou 
art John the Baptist ; some Elias ; and others, Jeremias, 
or one of the prophets." 

All this they said of Jesus because of the "wonders 
and signs" and "mighty works," "that show forth 
themselves in him." 

His mediumship gave him prominence in the minds 
of those Vv^ho heard of the results of it. 

Mountains. Can Faith Remove Them? 

Matt, xvii., 20: "And Jesus said unto them, Because 
of your unbelief : for verily I say unto you. If ye have 
faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto 
this mountain Remove hence to yonder place; and it 
shall remove : and nothing shall be impossible unto 
you." 

Matt, xxi., 20: "And when the disciples saw it, 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 119 

they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree 
withered away!'' 

Verse 21 : ''J^sus answered and said unto them, 
Verily I say unto you, if ye have faith, and doubt not, 
ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, 
but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou re- 
moved, and be thou cast into the sea ; it shall be done." 

Verse 22 : ''And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask 
in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." 

Mark xi., 23rd Verse — ''For verily I say unto you. 
That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou 
removed, and he thou cast into the sea; and shall not 
doubt in his heart, hut shall helieve that those things 
which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have zvhat- 
soever he saith/' 

Verse 24: ''Therefore I say unto you, what things 
soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive 
them, and ye shall have them." Can it be that Jesus 
really meant what he said? or was this report errone- 
ous or untrue? 

Mt. Tacoma. Will Prayer Remove It? 

St. Peter was the strongest medium among the 
twelve, and now let us suppose that some modern 
St. Peter is about to put in practice this power to re- 
move mountains, which Jesus promised his disciples 
and all others "whosoever shall not doubt but shall 
believe." 

We will, in our mind, place him on board a steam- 
ship in Puget Sound, Washington, U. S. A., on the 
upper deck, where there will be no obstruction to his 
view. Let him kneel and make the prescribed prayer, 
then rise to his feet, "full of faith," and "doubting 



120 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

not/' Then issue his command to old Mount Tacoma 
(also called Mount Rainier). 

"Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea!'' 
Move thou into the Pacific Ocean ! Go ! Listen ! is it 
going ? Hark ! is it breaking the crust around the 
many miles of its wide base? Oh! Is that terrific 
grinding sound that shakes the earth and rocks the 
steamship in the rolling waters of the sound, caused 
by the movement of the great mountain? Does the 
heated atmosphere stifle you? Is it intolerable, and is 
it caused by the miles of surface rocks being shaved 
even with the farm lands of the foothills and plains? 

Oh! the mighty power put to work by this modern 
St. Peter's prayer! Crashing, grinding, rolling, push- 
ing, this immense mountain of rock, towering many 
miles high, making directly for the ocean, the only 
power brought to bear upon it being the "faith" of a 
man generated in "prayer" and his own words of com- 
mand. Do you see it moving majestically along? Ah! 
There ! Has it reached the sea ? Can you see it ? Is 
it being submerged — going down, down, down, with a 
seething, hissing, roaring sound that is frightful to the 
ear ? There ! Has it disappeared beneath the ocean's 
waves? Gone forever? 

That which was but a few moments ago a magnifi- 
cent mountain: rocks and earth piled up miles in 
height, miles in width. Old Mount Tacoma, that was 
born of mighty earthquakes unnumbered centuries ago, 
ages before the humble man of Nazareth was bom! 
Dear old Mount Rainier! Thou hast withstood the 
cyclones, the hurricanes, the earthquakes, as well as 
the volcanic upheavals of which thou art a direct re- 
sult; thou hast withstood them all, for millions of 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 121 

years, and thy stately power is now outdone by the 
sincere ''prayer" and simple ''faith" of one man who 
was full of "faith" and "doubted not." Oh, the power 
of "faith" and prayer! 

This magnificent mountain, which has stood for ages 
as a mighty monument to the power and glory of 
Mother Nature, swept into oblivion in a brief moment 
by the power of "faith" and "prayer." Farewell, 
Mount Rainier; farewell, old Mount Tacoma; and 
with thee farewell to reason ! Welcome lunacy ! Wel- 
come insanity! Farewell to natural law! Good-bye 
to truth forever! 

Was Jesus of Nazareth an extremist? Was his god- 
ship, mediumship, or messiahship proved by such ex- 
travagant statements as these, that man could remove 
mountains by "faith" if "doubting not"? or did his 
biographers misrepresent this humble, truth-loving 
and just man of Nazareth? We much prefer to believe 
that his biographers erred in writing his history. 

For one, the author will accept the latter. It should 
be remembered at all times that Jesus of Nazareth 
never wrote one word of his history or of his life; 
that these writers of the Bible wrote about him many 
years after his death ; that what they wrote was purely 
traditional; that Jesus had been dead from fifty to 
sixty-five years before the story of his birth, life and 
death was written ; that there can be no absolute proof 
of the accuracy in detail of every statement regarding 
him ; and that possibly his supposed statement that if 
his disciples had faith they could remove mountains, is 
inaccurate, and also that other strange statements re- 
garding him were not reliable ; especially so since those 



122 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

who wrote of him, assuming to quote him, are not 
agreed upon details. 

This story should not weaken anyone's faith in the 
good man of Nazareth, who taught the doctrine of 
"love ye one another," ''love your enemies,'' ''do good 
to them that hate you," etc. Let all profit by his 
beautiful teachings, while allowing reason to decide all 
questions, especially those that fill one with doubt. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

JESUS ENDORSES OLD TESTAMENT 
STORIES. 

Matt, v., 17: 'Think not that I am come to destroy 
the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, 
but to fulfill." 

Verse 18: 'Tor verily I say unto you, Till heaven 
and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise 
pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." 

Verse 19: ''Whosoever therefore shall break one 
of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, 
he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven : 
but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall 
be called great in the kingdom of heaven." 

The foregoing scripture plainly shows that Jesus 
endorsed the laws and teachings of Moses and the 
prophets. 

Matt, vi., 28, 29: Jesus speaks of Solomon in all 
his glory. 

Matt. XV., 24 : "But he answered and said, I am not 
sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 

This, too, shows that he came to fulfill the law of 
Moses. 

Jesus Confirms the Story of the Flood. 

Matt, xxiv., 37: "But as the day of Noe were, so 
shall also the coming of the Son of Man be." 

Verse 38 : "For as in the days that were before the 
flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and 
giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered 
the ark." 

Verse 39 : "And knew not until the flood came, and 

took them all away; so shall also the coming of the 

Son of man be." 

123 



124 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

This shows conclusively that Jesus believed in the 
story of the flood. 

Mark i., 15 : "And saying, The time is fulfilled, and 
the kingdom of God is at hand : repent ye, and believe 
the gospel." 

There was no New Testament written at this time, 
so Jesus was urging them to believe in the Old Testa- 
ment gospel. 

Mark ii., 25, 26 : Upholds David in eating the holy 
shewbread 'Vhich" (as he says) ''is not lawful to eat." 

Mark xii., 26: Jesus corroborates the story of the 
burning bush and God's talk to Moses. 

Luke xvii., 28, 29: Corroborates the story of Lot 
and the raining of fire and brimstone from heaven, 
destroying the city of Sodom. 

Verse 32 : Mentions Lot's wife, who turned to a 
pillar of salt. 

John iii., 14: Corroborates the story of Moses and 
his serpent of brass, with which he healed the sick. 

John v., 39 : "Search the scriptures, for in them ye 
think ye have eternal life : and they are they which 
testify of me." The New Testament was not yet 
written, therefore he meant the Old Testament scrip- 
tures. 

Notwithstanding all of these confirmations of the 
teachings of Moses, Jesus contradicts many passages 
of Old Testament scripture, as will be seen in the 
following facts: 

Was Jesus an Infiidel? 

Webster gives the definition of the term as follows : 
"Infidel — One who does not believe in something 
understood or specified." 



JESUS o:^ NAZARETH 125 

Moses Speaks. 

Exodus xxi., 23 : "And if any mischief follow, 
thou shalt give life for life." 

Verse 24: "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for 
hand, foot for foot." 

Verse 25 : "Burning for burning, wound for 
wound, stripe for stripe." 

Jesus Contradicts Moses. 

Matt, v., 38 : "Ye have heard that it hath been said, 
An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth :" 

Verse 39 : "But I say unto you, That ye resist not 
evil : but whosoever shall smite thee on the right 
cheek, turn to him the other also." 

Verse 43 : "Ye have heard that it hath been said, 
Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy." 

Verse 44 : "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, 
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate 
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you 
and persecute you." (See also 31st to 37th verses.) 
These teachings are of the most spiritual and are the 
teachings of the spirits of Modern Spiritualism. If 
they were universally applied they would save the 
world from much sorrow and distress. In the teaching 
of these great principles Jesus was a savior, because 
living them will save men. 

Usury, or Taking Interest, Forbidden. 

Exodus xxii., 25 : Moses says : "If thou lend 
money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou 
shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou 
lay upon him usury." 

Leviticus xxv., 36: "Take thou no usury of him. 



126 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

or increase : but fear thy God ; that thy brother may 
live with thee." 

Verse 37: "Thou shalt not give him thy money 
upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase." 

Did Jesus Teach Taking Usury? 

Matt. XXV., 27th Verse : In his parable of the tal- 
ents Jesus makes the man say to his servant : 'Thou 
oughtest therefore to put my money to the exchangers, 
and then at my coming I should have received mine 
own with usury." 

Matt, v., 21st Verse: Jesus says: ''Ye have heard 
that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not 
kill ; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the 
judgment." 

Verse 22 : "But I say unto you, That whosoever is 
angry with his brother without a cause shall be in 
danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to 
his brother, Raca" (worthless) "shall be in danger of 
the council : but whosoever shall say. Thou fool, shall 
be in danger of hell-fire." 

Marriage Law of Moses. 
Deut. xxiv., 1st Verse: "When a man hath taken a 
wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she 
find no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some 
uncleanness in her, then let him write her a bill of 
divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her 
out of his house." 

Jesus Contradicts Moses on Marriage. 
Matt, v., 31st Verse: "It hath been said. Whoso- 
ever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing 
divorcement ;" 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 127 

Verse 32 : ''But I say unto you, that whosoever 
shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of forni- 
cation, causeth her to commit adultery : and whosoever 
shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery/^ 

Also On Swearing. 

Verse 33 : "Again, ye have heard that it hath been 
said by them of old time. Thou shall not forswear 
thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths :" 

Verse 34 : ''But I say unto you, Swear not at all ; 
neither by heaven ; for it is God's throne ;" 

Verse 35 : "Nor by the earth ; for it his footstool : 
neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great 
King." 

Verse 36 : "Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, 
because thou canst not make one hair white or black." 

Verse 37: "But let your communication be. Yea, 
yea ; nay, nay : for whatsoever is more than these 
Cometh of evil." This is indeed true. 

Are the above 33d and 34th verses contradictory? 

Luke xxiv., 25th Verse : "Then he said unto them, 
O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the 
prophets have spoken." Evidently he did not believe 
it all. If not, was he an infidel? 

Few Spiritualists of today believe all that their 
mediums say or do. So the above statement of Jesus 
is not applicable to them. Most Spiritualists are of the 
class that must be shown, and they easily accept this 
statement of the Nazarene. Some persons, no doubt, 
were in that day as in this, "foolish" and "slow" be- 
lieving all that the prophets or mediums said. It 
seems particularly wise for the man of Nazareth to 
upbraid them for it; though it seems they did not all 



128 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

need it, for even some of the apostles doubted their 
great teacher himself". 

The passages of scripture quoted above are con- 
clusive proof that Jesus of Nazareth did not accept all 
of the teachings of the Bible; therefore, according to 
Webster's definition he must have been an infidel. All 
praise to him for braving the dangers that beset him, 
to oppose error and proclaim in its place truth, justice 
and love. 

If Jesus was God, and the Bible his ''infallible word," 
he does not believe his own word, as the above quoted 
Scripture amply proves. 

Since Jesus did not believe all of the Bible, is it 
WTong for us to follow his example? 

Infidelity has been considered a crime by the Chris- 
tian Church ; and yet Jesus himself did not accept all 
of the scriptures as true. 

Were not Thomas Paine and Robert G. Ingersoll 
condemned for doing just what Jesus did in this mat- 
ter of doubting and contradicting certain passages of 
Scripture ? 

Is not his example of unbelief in the infallibility of 
the scriptures worthy of emulation? // the Bible is 
God's infallible word and Jesus was God, then he must 
be its atithor. Does God deny his own ''infallible'' 
Bible in these passages quoted F The mystery deepens. 

Did Jesus Make False Prophecies? 

Though Jesus was a great medium, he sometimes 
erred, as do modem mediums, if the scriptures are 
true. 

Matt, xvi., 28th Verse: Speaking to his disciples, 
Jesus said : ''Verily I say unto you. There be some 
standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 129 

see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." They 
have been dead a long time, and has Jesus returned 
to his kingdom? 

Luke ix., 27 : "But I tell you of a truth, there be 
some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till 
they see the kingdom of God." Did this prophecy 
prove true? 

Jesus Prophesies the Twelve Apostles Will Occupy 
the Twelve Thrones of Israel. 

Matt, xix., 27 : ''Then answered Peter and said unto 
him. Behold, we have forsaken all and followed thee ; 
what shall we have therefor?" 

Verse 28: "And Jesus said unto them, Verily I 
say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the 
regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the 
throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve 
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." 

Israel is scattered to the four corners of the earth, 
and not one of his disciples ever sat on one of the 
"twelve thrones of Israel." If the inspired writers 
told the truth about Jesus in these passages, was Jesus 
the Infallible Source of life and knowledge? 

Matt. X., 23 : "But when they persecute you in this 
city, flee ye into another : for verily I say unto you, ye 
shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the 
Son of man be come." Did this prove true? 

Matt, xxiv., 3 : "And as he sat upon the Mount of 
Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, 
Tell us, when shall these things be ? and what shall be 
the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" 

Verse 29: "Immediately after the tribulation of 
those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon 



130 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from 
heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken :" 

Verse 30: "And then shall appear the sign of the 
Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes 
of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man 
coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great 
glory." 

The 31st, 32d and 33d verses promise still more, 
and the 34th verse says : ''Verily, I say unto you, this 
generation shall not pass, till all these things be ful- 
filled." 

Verse 42 : "Watch therefore ; for ye know not what 
hour your Lord doth come." This shows he expected 
it would come in their generation. 

To clinch his statement and make it more certain 
Jesus says in the 35th verse : "Heaven and earth shall 
pass away, but my words shall not pass away." 

This prophecy was not fulfilled, which causes Jesus 
to appear quite human, for man is not infallible. God 
must be infallible in His works, and Jesus' failure 
proves he was not God. 

Paul Believed in These Erroneous Prophecies. 

Thessalonians iv., 17: Paul says: "Then we which 
are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with 
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and 
so shall we ever be with the Lord." 

Paul expected to be alive here on earth when Jesus 
should come, because Jesus had said that generation 
should not pass until he came. 

Mark ix., 1 : "And he" (Jesus) "said unto them, 
Verily I say unto you. That there he some of them 
that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 131 

Piave seen the kingdom of God come with power!* 
Was this a mistake? 

Mark xiii., 1 to 18: After prophesying awful things 
that are to come to the world, he says : 

Verse 19: *Tor in those days shall be affliction, 
such as was not from the beginning of the creation 
which God created unto this time, neither shall be." 
Much more follows, and in the 30th verse he says: 
''Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not 
pass, till all these things be done." Did his inspiration 
fail? 

Matt, xii., 40th Verse : Jesus says : "For as Jonas 
was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; 
so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights 
in the heart of the earth." He was not placed in the 
earth at all, but was placed in the tomb of Joseph, 
*'which he had hewn out in a rock." (See Matt, xxvii., 
60.) 

According to scripture he arose the third day from 
the tomb, therefore this prophecy was not entirely ful- 
filled, as but two nights passed between his crucifixion 
and his resurrection — ^probably thirty-six hours be- 
tween the time of his crucifixion and the time when 
the Marys discovered the empty tomb. 

He was crucified "about the ninth hour," which 
Bible commentators tell us would have been about 3 
o'clock p. m. Friday (see Matt, xxvii., 46), and early 
on Sunday morning his body was missed when the 
two Marys came to the sepulchre (see Matt, xxviii., 
1-7). 

Thus it will be seen that Jesus, like many other Bible 
prophets, sometimes erred in his prophecies. 

The foregoing false prophecies speak multitudes to 



132 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

the man of reason, who is free to think. They help to 
multiply the great amount of proof — which extends 
throughout the New Testament — of the fact that Jesus, 
like other men, was liable to err, and did make false 
prophecies which would not, could not, be expected of 
God. 

His pessimism, as shown in some parts of the New 
Testament scripture, is fully equal to his optimism. 
And certainly there is lack of evidence of his infinite 
superiority over other men, prophets and mediums; 
the proof of his godship and infinite wisdom is not 
shown in these many prophecies that never came true. 

Spiritualists do not condemn this good man for 
these errors in prophecy, for the simple reason that 
they understand how men who are mediums may 
sometimes err in the interpretation of spirit impres- 
sions, and may misunderstand spirit messages. 

The subtle influences governing mediumship are 
affected by one's surroundings on the mortal plane of 
life, and conditions often divert or misdirect those 
subtle spiritual forces, just as a strong magnet may 
affect the mariner's needle and divert the course of a 
ship. // Jesus were not more than mortal man, he 
could not he expected to prove himself infallible. If 
he were God, he might have done so. 

The Fig-Tree Miracle. 

Matt, xxi., 18th Verse: ''Now in the morning as he 
returned into the city he hungered." 

Verse 19 : "And when he saw a fig tree in the way, 
he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves 
only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee hence- 
forth forever. And presently the fig tree withered 
away." 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 133 

Mark xi., 13, concludes this story with these words: 
"For the time of figs was not yet!' That is to say, it 
was not the right time in the season for fig trees to 
bear fruit. Why, then, should Jesus curse the fig tree 
for not bearing out of season? 

According to orthodox Christianity, Jesus was God, 
and if it were true, he would be cursing his own 
handiwork if he cursed the fig tree. The author pre- 
fers to believe that the Nazarene was incorrectly 
quoted than to believe he was God and cursed the 
tree of his own making because it did not produce 
fruit out of season to feed him when he was hungry. 
What can we say to an innocent Sabbath school child 
in teaching him or her this unreasonable story ? 

If Jesus were God, and could feed ''five thousand 
men, besides women and children, with only five 
loaves and two fishes," ''and they did eat and were 
filled'* (see Matt, xiv., 15 to 22), why should Jesus 
go hungry himself, as reported in this story of the fig 
tree? If he were God, why could not he, who fed five 
thousand with scarcely food enough for a half-dozen, 
feed one person, and that person himself ? 

Jesus Accused of Being Insane and Having a Devil. 

The priests attributed the Spiritualism of Jesus to 
the works of the devil, just as some modern ministers 
do the Spiritualism of today. 

John X., 20: "And many of them" (the Jews) "said, 
He hath a devil, and is mad" (insane) ; "why hear ye 
him?" 

Modern mediums are sometimes accused of being 
insane, and their spirit phenomena are attributed to 
the devil by a certain class of theologians who claim 



134 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

to be the followers of this good ''man of Nazareth" 
whom the Jews accused. How strange ! 

Matt, xii., 24th Verse: "But when the Pharisees 
heart it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, 
but by Beelzebub, the prince of devils." Evidently 
they believed in many devils. 

Verse 25 : ''And Jesus knew their thoughts and 
said unto them. Every kingdom divided against itself 
is brought to desolation; and every city or house 
divided against itself shall not stand;" 

Verse 26: "And if Satan cast out Satan, he is 
divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom 
stand?" 

Verse 27: "And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, 
by whom do your children cast them out? therefore 
they shall be your judges." 

Verse 28: "But if I cast out devils by the spirit 
of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you." 

Jesus Accused of Having a Devil. 

John vii., 19th Verse : Jesus says : "Did not Moses 
give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? 
Why go ye about to kill me?" 

Verse 20: "The people answered and said. Thou 
hast a devil : who goeth about to kill thee ?" 

John viii., 48th Verse : "Then answered the Jews, 
and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a 
Samaritan, and hast a devil?" 

Verse 49: "Jesus answered, I have not a devil; 
but I honor my Father, and ye do dishonor me." 

Verse 52 : "Then said the Jews unto him. Now we 
know that thou hast a devil," etc. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 135 

This controversy goes on until Jesus not very 
politely calls them liars (see 5Sth verse), and we are 
told that they stoned Jesus, but he got away. Think of 
the God of this universe being accused of having a 
devil, or of being possessed of the devil, of being in- 
sane, and of his being stoned by an ignorant mob of 
his own creation. Oh, how unreasonable, how im- 
possible ! 

The author's sympathies are wholly with the poor 
medium of Nazareth, who was battling for his rights 
and for the truths of Spiritualism, of which he was 
an instrument used by the spirit-world to teach and 
demonstrate its truths. Those ignorant barbarians, 
like some modem undeveloped individuals, attributed 
his splendid mediumship to the devil and sought to 
destroy him. 

Mark iii, 22d Verse: ''And the scribes which came 
down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by 
the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.'' 

Mark xi., 18th Verse: ''And the scribes and chief 
priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy 
him : for they feared him, because all the people was 
astonished at his doctrine." 

Luke xix., 47th Verse: "And he" (Jesus) "taught 
daily in the temple, but the chief priests and the scribes 
and the chief of the people sought to destroy him." 

Verse 48: "And could not find what they might 
do : for all the people were very attentive to hear him." 

History repeats itself in Modern Spiritualism. Some 
"priests," some "scribes" (lawyers), and some "chiefs 
of the people" seek to destroy modern spirit-meduims, 
and the people of today "are very attentive to hear 
him." 



136 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Jesus Accused of Gluttony and Drinking. 

He was as innocent of this as many modern mediums 
are of things of which they are accused. 

Matt, xi., 18th Verse : Jesus says : 'Tor John came 
neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a 
devil/' 

Verse 19: "The Son of man came eating and 
drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and 
a wine-bibber, a friend of pubHcans and sinners. But 
wisdom is justified of her children." 

Many modern mediums have been falsely accused 
in the same manner, though they were just as innocent 
as was the Nazarene. People seem to be about the 
same in this respect today as they were in his day. 

Luke xi., 15th Verse: ''But some of them said. He 
casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the 
devils.'' 

Verse 16: "And others, tempting him, sought of 
him a sign from heaven" (a test from the spirit 
world). 

Instead of explaining to them that they were making 
no conditions to receive the "sign," or "test," they 
asked for, he very wisely discussed the casting out of 
devils, and ignored their request. Spiritualists learned 
long ago that it is useless to try to explain to people 
who come in a spirit of bantering and ridicule. Jesus 
did right in ignoring them. 



CHAPTER IX. 

JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES RECEIVE COM- 
PENSATION FOR THEIR SERVICES. 

Matt. X., 9: 'Trovide neither gold, nor silver, nor 
brass in your purses," 

Verse 10: ''Nor scrip for your journey; neither 
two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves" (staffs) : ''for 
the workman is worthy of his meat." 

Verse 11: "And into whatsoever city or town ye 
shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there 
abide until ye go thence." 

The above passages of scripture plainly show that 
they expected their living, including board, lodging and 
clothing, all of which they did receive as compensation 
for their services. 

Judas Iscariot Carried the Money-Bag for the 

Disciples. 

John xii., 4 : "Then saith one of his disciples, Judas 
Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him," 

Verse 5 : "Why was not this ointment sold for 
three hundred pence and given to the poor?" 

Verse 6: "This he said, not that he cared for the 
poor ; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and 
bare what was put therein." 

If, as is shown above, Judas was a theif, why was 
he allowed to carry the money bag? Did not Jesus 
know it? 

The disciples had a money bag in which money 
Vv^as "put," and this was used to defray their expenses. 
(See also Mark vi., 8 to 11.) 

John xiii., 29: "For some of them thought, because 
Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy 

137 



138 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

those things that we have need of against the feast; or, 
that he should give something to the poor." 

Disciples Well Cared For. 

Acts xxviii., 7: ''In the same quarters were pos- 
sessions of the chief man of the island, whose name 
was Publius, who received us, and lodged us three 
days courteously." 

Verse 10: ''Who also honored us with many 
honors ; and when we departed they laded us with such 
things as were necessary." 

Jesus Well Entertained. 

Luke xxiv., 29 : "But they constrained him, saying, 
Abide with us : for it is toward evening, and the day is 
far spent. And he went in to tarry with them." 

Verse 30 : He ''sat at meat with them." 

Jesus Sends Out Seventy Other Teachers. 

See Luke x., 1, 2, 3, 

Verse 4 : "Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes : 
and salute no man by the way." More proof that the 
people were expected to clothe them. 

Verse 5 : "And into whatsoever house ye enter, 
first say, Peace be unto this house." 

Verse 6: "And if the son of peace be there, your 
peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall return to you 
again." 

Verse 7: "And in the same house remain, eating 
and drinking such things as they give : for the laborer 
is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house." 
That is, they were not to "board around," like a 
"country school ma'am." 

Verse 8: "And into whatsoever city ye enter and 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 139 

they receive you, eat such things as are set before 
you;" 

The Widow's Mite. 

Mark xii., 41 : "And Jesus sat over against the 
treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into 
the treasury; and many that were rich cast in much/' 

Verse 42 : ''And there came a certain poor widow, 
and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing/' 

Verse 43: "And he called unto him his disciples, 
and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you that this 
poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which 
have cast into the treasury:" 

Verse 44: "For all they did cast in of their abun- 
dance ; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, 
even all her living." 

This shows that money was required, and was fur- 
nished, to help Jesus and his disciples in their spiritual 
work. Spiritualists have been condemned for receiv- 
ing compensation for their services. What is the dif- 
ference whether a medium receives fifty cents or a 
dollar for a reading, or receives a meal, a night's lodg- 
ing, or a pair of sandals for the same service ? 

Communism Practiced— Diciples Received Equal 

Shares of Converts' Wealth, Which Must 

Have Paid Them Well. 

Acts iv., 32: "And the multitude of them that be- 
lieved were of one heart and of one soul : neither said 
any of them that aught of the things which he pos- 
sessed was his own ; but they had all things common." 

Here was their support ; they did not need a fee for 
their services because they and their converts owned 
everything "in common." 



140 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Acts ii, 44th Verse: "And all that believed were 
together, and had all things in common." 

Acts iv., 34: ^'Neither was there any among them 
that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands 
or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the 
things that were sold." 

Verse 35 : "And laid them down at the apostles' 
feet: and distribution was made unto every man ac- 
cording as he had need." 

Were they not well paid for their work? Was this 
preaching the gospel without money and without price ? 

Converts Sell Their Possessions and Divide 
Proceeds. 

Acts ii., 45 : "And sold their possessions and goods, 
and parted them to all men, as every man had need." 

Three Thousand Converts in One Day 
Acts ii., 41 : "Then they that gladly received his 
word were baptized : and the same day there were 
added unto them about three thousand souls." 

This is almost equal to the achievement of Rev. 
"Billy" Sunday. Though "Billy" accepts a few checks, 
or some cash from each one, as his compensation, these 
ancient revivalists took all their converts possessed, 
and the converts with them, into their community ; and 
as quoted above: "They had all things in common." 
So they were pretty well paid for their services, and 
this second chapter of Acts, and 41st verse, is a report 
of one of their big days. 

Does this look like "preaching the gospel without 
money and without price?" 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 141 

Ordains His Twelve Apostles. 

Mark iii., 14: ''And he ordained twelve, that they 
should be with him, and that he might send them forth 
to preach." 

Jesus selected his twelve apostles from among the 
unlearned. Undoubtedly one reason for this was be- 
cause their minds were not polluted by the erroneous 
teachings of the schools of that day, and he knew, as 
do modern Spiritualists, that they would be more free 
to receive the truth when they were free from preju- 
dice, such as has been and is now inculcated in the 
minds of students of theological and of some secular 
schools. 

Another and greater reason for his selection of 
these particular twelve men, undoubtedly was that they 
possessed spiritual faculties in a large degree; though 
they were undeveloped at the time, as is shown in the 
fact that Jesus assisted them in their development, as 
has been heretofore explained in this work. 

In the history of the spiritually endowed men of the 
world a large majority of them have come from the un- 
educated class, Jesus, through his own mediumistic 
powers, undoubtedly saw in the men he selected as his 
co-workers, that they were endowed with ''spiritual 
gifts" or mediumship, and for this important reason 
he selected these lowly men. 

Spiritualists have sometimes been severely criticized 
for ordaining, or granting credentials to uneducated 
teachers and ministers of the gospel of Modern Spirit- 
ualism. The reason why they have done so is answered 
in the above. It is because they are endowed with, or 
possessed of, "spiritual gifts" which empower them to 
teach and demonstrate a future life — or as Jesus puts 



142 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

it, "the resurrection of the dead" — as no college stu- 
dent or professor of learning ever could, unless he 
were similarly endowed. 

Since Jesus set the example by ordaining his unedu- 
cated disciples, good Christians should not deride, or 
scoff, at Spiritualists for doing it; especially so, when 
these uneducated men and women do so much more 
in the way of proving a future life than their educated 
theologians can do. 

These theologians must place their dependence upon 
these ancient uneducated mediums for all they think 
they know, or what they believe regarding a future 
life. 

Apostles Lose Faith in Him, "Doubt Him," and 

"Believe Not." 

After witnessing the "miracles" performed by Jesus, 
and learning how to perform them themselves, the 
apostles of Jesus ''believed not." 

John vi., 64th Verse, Jesus says : "But there are 
some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from 
the beginning who they were that believed not, and 
who should betray him." 

Disciples Left Him. 

Verse 66: "From that time many of his disciples 
went back, and walked no more with him." 

John vii, 5th Verse : "For neither did his brethren 
believe in him." 

Is it not strange that the people who knew Jesus 
personally, and witnessed the spirit phenomena, called 
miracles, that occurred in his presence, did not believe 
in him, and declared that he had a devil (see 20th 
verse), when so many people of the past and of today 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 143 

who never saw him or his work, accept and believe 
every word written about him, and believe he was 
God? 

Disciples Doubted Jesus, Forsook Him and Fled. 

Jesus had promised to return after his crucifixion 
and still his disciples to whom he had made the promise 
would not believe when the two Marys told them he 
had been seen. It seems strange that they who wit- 
nessed such wonderful proof of the genuineness of 
his mediumship should be so skeptical of his works 
and prophecies. 

Mark xvi., 11: ''And they, when they had heard 
that he was alive, and had been seen of her," (Mary 
Magdalene) ''believed not." 

Verse 12 : "After that he appeared in another 
form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into 
the country." 

Verse 13: "And they went and told it unto the 
residue: neither believed they them." 

Skepticism regarding spirit phenomena was as great 
among some people of that day as it is in this. 

Luke xxiv., 10: "It was Mary Magdalene, and 
Johanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other 
women that were with them, which told these things 
unto the apostles." 

Verse 11: "And their words seemed to them as 
idle tales, and they believed them not." 

Matt, xxviii., 17: "And when they saw him, they 
worshipped him : but some doubted." 

Matt, xxvi., 56th Verse: "Then all the disciples 
forsook him and fled." 



144 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Even Peter, His "Best Beloved," Denied Him. 

Verse 70: "But he denied before them all, saying 
I know not what thou sayest." 
Did St. Peter Tell a Falsehood, Curse and Swear? 

Verse 72 : "And again he denied with an oath, I do 
not know the man." 

Verse 74: "Then began he to curse and swear, 
saying, I know not the man. And immediately the 
cock crew." 

This Peter was the same man of whom Jesus said : 

Matt, xvi., 18th Verse : "And I say also unto thee, 
that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my 
church'- and the gates of hell shall not prevail against 
it/^ And yet Peter denied him. 

Judas Betrays Jesus. 

See Matt, xxvi., 47, 48 verses. 

Verse 49: Judas betrays Jesus "with a kiss." 

If Jesus was the "Eternal God," as claimed by the 
Christian creeds, why should those who knew him per- 
sonally and intimately, and who witnessed his works, 
"doubt him;" "deny him;" "betray him," and finally 
"all forsake him?" 

Such a remarkable being, it would be expected, 
would be able to convince the most skeptical. "Let us 
reason together." 

Jesus' Trial A Farce. 

Jesus was crucified for teaching doctrines not in 
accord with the church of his day, and for demon- 
strating the truth of those doctrines through his spirit- 
ual gifts of mediumship. 

Luke xxii., 2 : "And the chief priests and scribes 
sought how they might kill him; for they feared the 
people." 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 145 

Verse 66: Tells how *Ue elders," 'Ue chief 
priests'' and ''the scribes" (officers of the law or 
lawyers) led him to court. 

Chap, xxiii., 4: Pilate said to the priests and the 
people, ''I find no fault in this man." 

Verse 5 : And they were ''more fierce" against the 
poor man. 

Verse 7 : Pilate sent him to Herod. 

Verse 8: Herod was "exceedingly glad," and was 
in hopes to have seen some miracle done by him. 

He wanted a test. 

Verse 10: "And the chief priests and scribes" (of- 
ficers) "stood and vehemently accused him." 

Verse 11 : Herod sent him back to Pilate. Neither 
could find any fault in him sufficient to accuse him. 
. Verse 20 : Pilate wanted to release him. 

Verse 21 : "They cried crucify him! crucify him!" 

Verse 23 : "And the voices of them and the chief 
priests prevailed." 

This most terrible injustice, and persecution of a 
good man has been many times duplicated in the cen- 
turies lying between this and that day, and to a small 
degree, it is being enacted today in the persecution of 
modern mediums, though they are not put to death. 
Thanks be to the evolution of civilization, the people 
of today are not so ignorant, superstitious and wicked 
as they were in that day. 

It is a noticeable fact that even though the rulers, 
Pilate and Herod, could see no fault in the innocent 
Nazarene, and both would have set him free; the 
priests of the church, and the scribes — minions of the 
law — without a fair trial, and in the absence of evi- 
dence against him, decreed his terrible death which he 



146 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

suffered on the cross. The story of this intolerance, 
injustice and vicious persecution of this innocent man 
is almost enough to drive lovers of justice to dis- 
traction. 

However, if Jesus was sent into the world by God, 
his father, to die on the cross for the sins of men, as 
taught by orthodox Christianity, somebody had to do 
the job, else he could not have fulfilled this edict of 
the Almighty ; therefore, it became necessary that some 
Peter deny him, that some Judas betray him, that ''The 
chief priests and the elders, and all the council, must 
have sought false witnesses against Jesus, to put him 
to death" (Matt, xxvi., 59), that the decree of the Al- 
mighty might be fulfilled. If all this was necessary 
for its fulfillment, did not God prepare each one to 
perform his part in the terrible tragedy, and should 
we condemn Peter for denying him, Judas for betray- 
ing him, or the chief priests of that ancient church 
and the officers of the law for crucifying him. I say, 
if it was the edict of Almighty God that Jesus must die 
on the cross, should those who participated in his cruci- 
fixion be blamed ? Jesus was crucified for claiming to 
be "the Son of God," "the King of Israel" and for 
practicing his mediumship, teaching Spiritualism, and 
leading people away from the church of that day. 



CHAPTER X. • 

THE SPIRIT OF JESUS MATERIALIZES 
MANY TIMES. 

After the crucifixion Jesus appeared several times. 

It is not at all strange that one with the spiritual de- 
velopment of the Nazarene, and one who was himself 
a medium for many phases of spirit phenomena, in- 
cluding the phase of materializing spirits, as is shown 
by the seance he held on the mount of transfiguration, 
should be able to return as a materialized spirit, after 
his death. Spiritualists can believe the following pas- 
sages of scripture which tell of his appearing to 
many people, because they know that spirit material- 
ization is possible, and that one who has been an in- 
strument used by the spirit world for materialization 
would be well advanced in that phase of mediumship, 
and would better understand how to accomplish it him- 
self when he entered spirit life. 

An Angel or Spirit Talks to the Two Marys. 

Matt, xxviii., Sth Verse : "And the angel answered 
and said unto the women. Fear not ye : for I know 
that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified." 

Verse 6: *'He is not here: for he is risen, as he 
said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." 

Verse 7: ''And go quickly, and tell his disciples 
that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth 
before you into Gallilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I 
have told you." This was a spirit communication, just 
such as spiritualists are receiving today. 

Verse 8: ''And they departed quickly from the 

sepulchre with fear and great joy ; and did run to bring 

his disciples word." 

147 



148 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Jesus' First Appearance After His Death. 

Verse 9: ''And as they went to tell his disciples, 
behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they 
came and held him by the feet and worshiped him/' 
This was spirit materialization. 

Verse 10: "Then said Jesus unto them, Be not 
afraid : go tell my brethren that they go into Gallilee, 
and there shall they see me." 

Verse 16: ''Then the eleven disciples went away 
into Gallilee, into a mountain w^here Jesus had ap- 
pointed them." 

Some Doubted. 

Verse 17: "And when they saw him, they wor- 
shiped him; but some doubted." 

It appears very strange that the disciples should 
doubt their own eyes; particularly so, when it is con- 
sidered that they were companions of Jesus, and saw 
his so-called miracles, heard his prophecies, and knew 
that he had promised to return to them; and this was 
but the fulfillment of his prophecy. This proves true 
the statem.ent of Jesus in his parable of the rich man 
and Lazarus : "Neither will they be persuaded, though 
one rose from the dead." (Luke xvi., 31.) 

Jesus Materializes and Met Them by Appointment. 

Matt, xxviii., 18th Verse: "And Jesus came and 
spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me 
in heaven and in earth." 

Jesus Appeared to Mary Magdalene. 
Mark xvi., 9th Verse : "Now when Jesus was risen 
early the first day of the week, he appeared first to 
Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven 
devils." 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 149 

Appeared Again to Two of Them. 
Verse 12 : ''After that he appeared in another form 
unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the 
country." 

He Appeared Unto the Eleven. 

Verse 14 : ''Afterward he appeared unto the eleven 
as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their 
unbeHef and hardness of heart, because they believed 
not them which had seen him after he was risen/' 

He Appeared to Simon. 

Luke xxiv., 34th Verse : "Saying, The Lord is risen 
indeed, and hath appeared to Simon." 

He Appeared Unto the Ten Apostles. 

Verse 36: "And as they thus spake, Jesus himself 
stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them. Peace 
be unto you." 

Verse 37: "But they were terrified and affrighted, 
and supposed that they had seen a spirit." 

Was it Jesus the dead man, or Jesus Almighty God 
who materialized so often and frightened and terrified 
the apostles because they thought he was a spirit? 

Spirits sometimes materialize. Does God ever ma- 
terialize as a man? 

Verse 41 : Jesus a materiaHzed spirit asked the 
disciples for something to eat. 

Jesus, A Materialized Spirit, Ate Food. 

Verse 42: "And they gave him a piece of broiled 
fish, and of an honeycomb." 

Verse 43: "And he took it, and did eat before 
them." 



150 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Verse 51 : ''He was parted from them, and carried 
up into heaven." 

Did anyone ever hear of anything more astounding 
in Modern Spiritualism than this statement that a 
materiaHzed spirit ate broiled fish and honeycomb? 

John XX., 14th Verse: ''And when she" (Mary) 
"had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus 
standing, and knew not that it was Jesus." 

Appeared to Disciples in Closed Room. 

Verse 19: "Then the same day at evening, being 
the first day of the week, when the doors were shut 
where the disciples were assembled for fear of the 
Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith 
unto them. Peace be unto you." 

Verse 20: "And when he had so said, he showed 
unto them his hands and his side. Then were the 
disciples glad, when they saw the Lord." 

Verse 25 : "The other disciples therefore said un- 
to him" (Thomas), "We have seen the Lord. But 
he said unto them. Except I shall see in his hands 
the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print 
of the nails and thrust my hand into his side, I will 
not believe." 

Such skepticism and unbelief is hard to account for 
in one who was a medium himself, as Thomas was, 
and who knew Jesus personally, and had witnessed 
the wonderful, so-called miracles he is supposed to 
have performed. 

Appeared Converting Thomas. 

Verse 26 : "And after eight days again his disciples 
were within, and Thomas with them : then came Jesus, 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 151 

the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, 
Peace be unto you." 

Verse 27 : "Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither 
thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither 
thy hand, and thrust it into my side : and be not faith- 
less, but believing." 

Came Again at the Sea of Tiberias. 

John xxi., 1: "After these things, Jesus showed 
himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; 
and on this wise showed he himself/^ 

Verse 2 : "There were together Simon Peter, and 
Thomas called Didymus, and Nathansel of Cana in 
Gallilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his 
disciples." 

Verse 14: "This is now the third time that Jesus 
showed himself to his disciples, after that he was 
risen from the dead." 

Jesus Materialized Forty Days. 

Acts i., 3d Verse : "To whom also he showed him- 
self alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, 
being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the 
things pertaining to the kingdom of God." This is 
the longest full-form materiaHzation on record. 

Verse 4: "And, being assembled together with 
them, commanded them that they should not depart 
from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the 
Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me." 

The author believes that Jesus did materialize after 
his death, and was seen by his disciples and the other 
people. He believes it because he knows it is possible, 
he having witnessed similar phenomena himself. Spir- 
itualism "comes not to destroy, but to fulfill." 



152 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Acts X., 40th Verse : ''Him God raised up the third 
day, and showed him openly ;'' 

41st Verse: ''Not to all the people, but unto wit- 
nesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat 
and drink with him after he rose from the dead/' 

Acts xiii., 31st Verse : "And he was seen many days 
of them which came up with him from Gallilee to 
Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people." 

Were they good witnesses if they "doubted,'' as the 
scriptures say they did ? 

He Was Seen of Cephas and the Twelve. 

I. Corinthians xv., 5th Verse: "And that he was 
seen of Cephas, then of the twelve." 

Spirit of Jesus Seen of Five Hundred at One Time. 

Verse 6: "After that, he was seen of above five 
hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part 
remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep." 

Verse 7: "After that, he was seen of James; then 
of all the apostles." 

Verse 8: "And last of all he was seen of me" 
(Paul) "also, as of one born out of due time." 

Jesus Dematerializes. 

Every spirit that materializes, must of necessity de- 
materialize, just as Jesus is reported to have done. 

Luke xxiv., 51: "And it came to pass, while he 
blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried 
up into heaven." 

Mark xvi., 19: -'So then, after the Lord had spoken 
unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat 
on the right hand of God." 

Who knows where he sat? Did anyone see him 
sitting there? 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 153 

Acts i., 9 : ''And when he had spoken these things, 
while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud re- 
ceived him out of sight/' 

Verse 10: ''And while they looked steadfastly to- 
ward heaven as he went up, behold, two men*' (spirits) 
"stood by them in white apparel;'' 

Verse 11 : These spirits talk to the "men of Galli- 
lee," just as spirits sometimes come and talk to people 
in this day and age of the world. 

Luke xxiv., 31 : "And their eyes were opened, and 
they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight." 

Jesus Gives Spirit-Test After His Crucifixion. 

John xxi., 5 : "Then Jesus saith unto them" (his 
disciples), "Children, have ye any meat? They an- 
swered him, no." 

Verse 6: "And he said unto them. Cast the net 
on the right side of the ship and ye shall find. They 
cast therefore and now they were not able to draw 
it for the multitude of fishes." This seems to have 
been a good test. 

Verse 11: "Simon Peter went up, and drew the 
net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty 
and three: and for all there were so many, yet was 
not the net broken." 

Jesus Gave Other Tests. 

John XX., 30: "And many other signs (tests) truly 
did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are 
not written in this book ;" 

Verse 31 : "But these are written, that ye might 
believe that Jesus is the Christ" (spirit-medium), "the 
Son of God; and that believing ye might have life 
through his name." 



154 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

According to this 30th verse Jesus gave many other 
spirit tests in the presence of his disciples, which are 
not recorded in the Bible. 

The 31st Verse says these tests that are written were 
recorded that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ. 
(A Christ is a spirit medium as has been shown.) The 
*'Son of God" (and the Son of God is a medium). 

Jesus, a Spirit, Speaks to Paul. 

Acts ix, 4th Verse : ''And he fell to the earth, and 
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why perse- 
cutest thou me?" 

Could Paul, a man, persecute Almighty God? 

Verse 5 : ''And he said. Who art thou. Lord? And 
the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it 
is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." 

Verse 6: "Jesus says to Paul, "Arise and go into 
the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do." 

This communication and the influence of the spirit 
of Jesus, converted Paul to the Spiritualism of that 
day; Paul became a wonderful medium and Jesus be- 
came his spirit guide. 

Read the records of Paul's work after this seance. 

Jesus a Forgiving Spirit. 

Jesus forgave the thief who was crucified with him. 

Luke xxiii., 42: "And he" (the thief) "said unto 
Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy 
kingdom." 

Verse 43 : "And Jesus said unto him. Verily I say 
unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise." 
This thief did not have to wait for Gabriel to blow 
his trumphet at the ressurection. Jesus told him he 
would be with him in paradise that day. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 155 

Spiritualism teaches forgiveness, and is charitable 
to the sinner, because it traces things to their cause. 

When the woman taken in adultery was brought to 
Jesus for judgment, he said : 

John viii., 7th Verse : ''He that is without sin among 
you, let him first cast a stone at her/' 

Verse 8: ''And again he stooped down and wrote 
on the ground." 

Verse 9 : "And they which heard it, being convicted 
by their own conscience, went out one by one, begin- 
ning at the eldest, even unto the last : and Jesus was 
left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.'' 

Verse 10: Jesus says: "Woman, where are those 
thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?" 

Verse 11: "She said. No man. Lord. And Jesus 
said unto her. Neither do I condemn thee : go, and sin 
no more." 

In all of this there is a great lesson. Jesus was a 
broad-minded and just man. 

Matt, xviii., 15 : "Moreover if thy brother shall tres- 
pass against thee, go and tell him his fault between 
thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast 
gained thy brother." 

Verse 21, 22: Jesus told Peter to forgive his 
brother, who sins against him "seventy times seven 
times." 

Matt, xix., 14 : "But Jesus said. Suffer little chil- 
dren, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of 
such is the kingdom of heaven." 

How beautiful is this expression of the Nazarene, 
especially so, when it is considered that theology has 
taught for centuries that children were born depraved. 
Spiritualism has taught for seventy-four years that the 



156 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

doctrine of 'Total Depravity" as taught by the ortho- 
dox church is the teachings of the false prophets, and 
Spiritualists have always taught and upheld the doc- 
trines Jesus advocates in the above quoted scripture. 

John xiv., 12 : ''Verily, verily, I say unto you, He 
that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do 
also; and greater works than these shall he do; be- 
cause I go unto my Father/' 

Did Jesus mean this when he said it? If so, why 
do not the Christians, those who claim to believe on 
him, do these works? 

Spiritualists do many things to which he refers. 
They heal the sick by laying on of hands; they heal 
them at a distance; they see clairvoyantly, etc., just 
as Jesus did, thus proving his words true, and also 
proving that they are the true believers in him. 

Matt, v., 43 : "Ye have heard that it hath been said, 
Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy.'' 

Verse 44 : ''But I say unto you. Love your enemies, 
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate 
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and 
persecute you ;" 

Luke vi., 31 : "And as ye would that men should do 
to you, do ye also to them likewise." 

Verse 37: "J^^ge not, and ye shall not be judged: 
condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned : forgive, 
and ye shall be forgiven." 

Verse 38: "Give, and it shall be given unto you; 
good measure pressed down, and shaken together, and 
running over, shall men give into your bosom. For 
with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be 
measured to you again." These are the teachings of 
Modern Spiritualism. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 157 

These beautiful teachings of the Nazarene are a 
great contrast to some of the absurd and unreasonable 
teachings quoted heretofore, and the question arises 
why such a difference in Jesus' own teachings? 

To the author it appears that the Nazarene, like 
nearly all other mediums, was a man of moods; that 
when he was under the heavenly influence of his spirit- 
helpers he received the beautiful inspiration expressed 
in the foregoing scriptures, and when he was weary 
and tired and free from control he uttered the unpleas- 
ant words and teachings that shock the sensitive. If 
this is not true, then his biographers have not quoted 
him correctly or there are mistakes in the translations 
of the Bible. 

Jesus Preached to the Spirits in Prison for the 
Purpose of Reforming Them. 

I. Peter iii., 18 : ''For Christ also hath once suffered 
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring 
us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened 
by the Spirit :'' 

Verse 19: ''By which also he went and preached 
unto the spirits in prison ;"* 

The Reason Why the Gospel is Preached to Them. 

I. Peter iv., 6: "For for this cause was the gospel 
preached also to them that are dead, that they might 
be judged according to men in the flesh, but live 
according to God in the spirit/' 

These teachings are in perfect accord with the 
teachings of Modern Spiritualism. Progression after 



♦Spirits in prison, according to Modern Spiritualism, 
are spirits in an undeveloped state, not spiritual; "outer 
darkness," Jesus calls this state or condition of such spirits. 
(See Matt, viii., 12.) 



158 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

death is taught by all enlightened spirits, through me- 
diums, and often are these "spirits in prison'' enlight- 
ened, or brought to the light, through the instrumen- 
tality, and teachings of mediums, just in the manner 
explained in the scriptures. 

According to Mark xvi., 17, Jesus appeared as a 
materialized spirit and said: '*And these signs*' (tests) 
''shall follow them that believe ; in my name shall they 
cast out devils" (diseases) ; ''they shall speak with new 
tongues f 

Verse 18 : "They shall take up serpents ; and if they 
drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they 
shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." 

These are the things "believers" in Jesus shall do; 
they are given as the test of a Christian. Could any- 
one undergo this test? We think it very doubtful. 
However, Spiritualists speak with new tongues. 
Christians do not. Spiritualists lay hands on the sick 
and they recover; thus far "these signs follow them 
that believe." But Spiritualists as well as Christians 
balk when it comes to handling serpents and drinking 
deadly poison as tests of their behef. 

A part of these signs follow the Spiritualists; do 
any of them follow the average Christian? 

Matt, vii., 7 : "Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, 
and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto 
you." 

Spiritualists ask and receive, seek and find, knock 
and the door of the spirit world opens unto them. 

Jesus Taught and Demonstrated Spiritualism. 

Spiritualism accepts Truth for authority and teaches 
men to follow wherever Truth leads ; that Truth is the 
savior of mankind. In this Jesus concurs. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 159 

John viii., 32, He says : "And ye shall know the 
truth, and the truth shall make you free." 

In practicing his mediumship, as he did almost con- 
stantly, according to the Bible records, he was demon- 
strating Spiritualism. 

In instructing his disciples in psychic science and 
mediumship as he did, when preparing them for their 
work, he was teaching Spiritualism. 

All the phases of mediumship possessed by Je- 
sus, MANY OF WHICH ARE MENTIONED IN TPIE FORE- 
GOING CHAPTERS OF THIS BOOK, ARE, IF TRUE, PROOF 
OF THE FACT THAT JeSUS WAS A SPIRIT MEDIUM, AND 
THE SPIRIT PHENOMENA OCCURRING IN HIS PRESENCE 
ARE DEMONSTRATIONS OF THE TRUTH OF SPIRITUALISM. 

This fact should not be ignored by the Spiritualists 
of today, as it is a fact that cannot be overthrown by 
the Christian opponents of Modern Spiritualism. Not 
ONLY WAS Jesus a Spiritualist and a spirit-me- 
dium, BUT HIS TWELVE APOSTLES AND MANY OF HIS 
DISCIPLES WERE SPIRIT-MEDIUMS AND TAUGHT AS WELL 
AS DEMONSTRATED ITS TRUTH. 

Paul in his First Epistle to the Thessalonians, chap- 
ter v., says : 

Verse 19 : ''Quench not the spirit." 
Verse 20 : ''Despise not prophesyings." 
Verse 21 : "Prove all things ; hold fast that which 
is good." 
Verse 22 : "Abstain for all appearance of evil.'' 
This is what Modern Spiritualism teaches ; and the 
first three verses are what some Christians, in their 
opposition to Spiritualism, unwittingly condemn. 

The National Spiritualist Association of the United 
States adopted in their Declaration of Principles cer- 



160 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

tain teachings of Jesus. Its Declaration of Principles 
follows : -- 

National Spiritualists Association's Declaration of 

Principles. 
Sections 1 to 6 at Chicago, 111., October, 1903. 
Sections 7 and 8 at Rochester, N. Y., October, 1909. 

1. ^'We believe in Infinite Intelligence. 

2. ''We believe that the phenomena of Nature, phys- 
ical and spiritual, are the expression of Infinite Intel- 
ligence. 

3. ''We affirm that a correct understanding of such 
expression and living in accordance therewith consti- 
tute the true religion. 

4. "We affirm that the existence and personal iden- 
tity of the individual continues after death. 

5. "We affirm that communication with the so-called 
dead is a fact scientifically proven by the phenomena 
of Modern Spiritualism. 

6. "We believe that the highest morality is con- 
tained in the Golden Rule : 'Whatsoever ye would that 
others should do unto you, do ye also unto them.'' 

7. "We affirm the moral responsibility of the indi- 
vidual, and that he makes his own happiness or un- 
happiness as he obeys or disobeys Nature's psychic 
laws. 

8. "We affirm that the doorway to reformation is 
never closed against any human soul, here or here- 
after." 

The author feels free to say that not all, but much 
of the scripture heretofore quoted regarding the teach- 
ings of Jesus, and the phenomena occurring in his 
presence, are in perfect accord with this entire Declar- 
ation of Principles of the National Spiritualists' Asso- 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 161 

ciation. Jesus taught and demonstrated the 

TRUTHS OF spiritualism. THESE FACTS AND MANY 

others mentioned in this work, guarantee the 
author in the statement that, according to the 
Christian Bible, Jesus of Nazareth was a spirit- 
medium AND A SPIRITUALIST. 

Spiritualists' Churches Fully Equipped, According 

to St. Paul. 

Paul says in I. Cor. xii., 28: ''And God hath set 
some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, 
thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of 
healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." 

This is St. PauFs church, and it is true that the 
Spiritualists have all of these in their church, though 
the ''miracles" of which he speaks are now called 
"physical phenomena," because Spiritualism has shown 
they are not miracles but natural phenomena. 

We know of no Christian church that is fully 
equipped according to Paul's statement of what God 
did for the church. 

Spiritualists have "prophets," "physical phenomena" 
(called miracles), "diversity of tongues," which the 
Christian church has not, and would not tolerate to- 
day, and which many members of the Christian church 
industrially condemn and seek to destroy. Who, then, 
are true Christians? Paul recognized spirit-medium- 
ship, as this scripture proves. 



CHAPTER XI. 

CHRISTIAN BASIS FOR THE DEIFICATION 

OF JESUS. 

The basis for the Christians' claim that Jesus of 
Nazareth was 'Very God" consists wholly in the 
"works'' he is supposed to have done. These are 
called ''the working of miracles." 

All but a few of these phenomena are produced by 
modem spirit-mediums, and they are not "gods." 

The principal phenomena recorded in scripture 
which are not performed by modern mediums are as 
follows, and even they, if they were true, do not prove 
that Jesus was "Almighty" in his power and that he 
was "God." 

Claim No. i. — His miraculous conception. This is 
disproved, as shown in the foregoing scripture quo- 
tations, by the great amount of testimony of his asso- 
ciates. 

Claim No. 2. — The one report of his rebuking the 
winds and causing a great calm of the sea. This may 
have been a coincidence, the winds ceasing at that 
particular time of their own accord, the same as they 
do at all other times. 

Claim No, 5. — The story of his feeding five thou- 
sand people with a few loaves and fishes, of which 
there appears discrepancies in the different gospels, 
which weakens their authority. Then it may have been 
written, as some theologians claim the story of crea- 
tion was written, namely, as an allegory. 

Many wise men think there should be some explana- 
tion, or some excuse made for this story of the work 

of the Nazarene. However, the scripture of itself, 

162 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 163 

if proven to be God's eternal truth, does not prove 
that Jesus was the ''Eternal God/' not even if he did 
all of the so-called ''miracles/' It proves conclu- 
sively that he was not God. 

Jesus Raising the Dead. 

Claim No. 4. — His raising of the so-called dead. 
How many "dead" people did Jesus raise, according 
to scripture ? Three persons only ; one, the daughter 
of "J^irus/' who was "one of the rulers.'' The story 
of her being raised occurs in three of the gospels, 
namely, Matt, ix., 24 to 26; Mark v., 35 to 39; Luke 
viii., 41 to 56; and in all three of these gospels, Jesus 
is made to say, "The maid is not dead, hut sleepeth/^ 
so in her case, according to his own statement, he 
only awoke her from sleep. 

In the case of Lazarus, the brother of Mary, Martha 
says he had been "dead four days," and "by this time 
he stinketh" (John xi., 39). 

If this report were proven true, and Martha's state- 
ment is certainly correct, then Jesus did raise, what 
appeared to be a dead man, to life. But as neither of 
the other three gospel writers mentions this remark- 
able circumstance, it naturally leaves one in doubt 
about the accuracy of this statement. And one may 
surely doubt this impossible story, since this gospel 
writer was not present at this raising of the dead, and 
is only recording hearsay evidence. 

If such had truly been the case; if a dead man 
whose body had decayed to that extent that it "stink- 
eth" had been raised to life and lived thirty years 
after his resurrection (see Dictionary of the Bible, by 
Wm. Smith, Classical Examiner of the University of 
London), it would have been a real miracle. 



164 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

The other evangelists, — Matthew, Mark and Luke, 
one of whom was in closer relations with the Nazarene 
than was John — could have known nothing of the mat- 
ter for the reason that if they had known of it they 
would certainly have mentioned it, — as it is, it would 
stand as one of the greatest ''miracles'' ever performed 
by Jesus, providing it were true. 

Then, in the face of all this, Jesus himself says 
(John xi., 11), *'Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I 
go, that I may awake him out of sleep,'' though, in 
the 14th verse, the writer makes him say, ''Lazarus 
is dead." Taking the matter altogether, the story is 
so complicated and altogether wonderful that it re- 
quires more credulity than is possessed by the average 
Spiritualist to accept it as infallible truth. 

Luke vii., 11th to 18th verses, records the third case, 
of the miracle of Jesus raising the dead. The case 
is somewhat different, for the story says the man was 
dead. He was the only son of a widowed mother, 
and "the Lord had compassion on her." 

Verse 14: "And he came and touched the bier: 
and he said. Young man, I say unto thee, arise." 

Verse 15: "And he that was dead sat up, and 
began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother." 

The same objection arises in this as in the story of 
Lazarus; namely, neither of the three other gospel 
writers mentions this circumstance at all, and this ap- 
pears strange indeed if the story were true, as it would 
be a true miracle, and it was by so-called miracles that 
Jesus sought to prove his messiahship or mediumship ; 
and it was by them that the evangelists and the apostles 
sought to establish this claim; and the other evange- 
lists would not have neglected to record it if they had 
known of it. There is no valid reason why they should 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 165 

not have known of it — if it were true — the same as 
they are supposed to know other things they recorded. 

Furthermore, it may be inferred quite rationally that 
this young man was not dead, but that he was in a 
trance, a comatose state, or a deep sleep. Is the proof 
of Jesus having raised the dead sufficient to establish 
it as absolute fact? The reader should keep in mind 
the fact that Luke, the only one of the four gospel 
writers who mentions this miracle of raising the dead, 
only wrote what was believed in that day in which he 
was writing it. It was not what Luke knew. It was 
what was believed by other people of that time. For 
proof of this (see Luke i., 1-4). 

Jesus was supposed to grant to his apostles the power 
to raise the dead, as has been shown in preciding chap- 
ters. Peter and Paul are the only ones of the twelve 
who are reported to have accomplished this miracle. 

Acts ix., 40: ''But Peter put them all forth, and 
kneeled down, anad prayed; and turning him to the 
body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: 
and when she saw Peter, she sat up." 

No one was in the room with Peter. How did the 
writer know these details? 

Verse 41 : ''And he gave her his hand, and lifted 
her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, 
presented her alive.'* 

Acts XX., 9 : Paul raises the dead. "And there sat 
in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, 
being fallen into a deep sleep : and as Paul was long 
preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down 
from the third loft, and was taken up dead.'* 

Verse 10: "And Paul went down, and fell on him, 
and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves ; for 



166 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

his life is in him.'' That is, he was not dead. So Paul 
raised no dead. 

These two miracles of raising the dead constitute 
the sum total of that work by his disciples. 

Does the Raising of the Dead Prove One's Deity? 

Does the raising of the dead by Jesus prove that 
he was God? If so, were Peter and Paul ''God"? 

If the raising of the dead is proof of one's being 
God, then Elijah was God, for, according to scripture, 
he raised the widow's son (I. Kings xvii., 19 to 23). 

II. Kings iv., 32 to 37, also viii., 4 and 5, EHsha 
raised the dead, and he was also God, and these gods 
existed before the time of Jesus. 

If miraculous conception constitutes one a God, and 
raising the dead proves one's deity; then these othei 
men who were miraculously conceived and proved 
their Godship by raising the dead were also gods. 
Were they not? 

This makes plain the fact that according to the 
scriptures themselves even the raising of the dead does 
not prove one to be ''Very God"; because these four 
men were simply men, not "God of the universe." 
Then, if Jesus did raise the dead, it is no proof that 
he was God, because, according to the scriptures, four 
other men raised the dead, and they were only mere 
men. 

Jesus Removed No Mountains Himself. 
Jesus of Nazareth told his disciples that if they had 
faith as a grain of mustard seed they could remove 
mountains, pluck up trees by the roots, etc. And 
though he granted them this power, or was supposed 
to have endowed them with it, they never did either. 
And more: Jesus himself, with all of his supposed 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 167 

power, never removed a mountain or a tree by his 
command, so far as scriptural teachings are con- 
cerned. 

The supposed feeding of a multitude with a few 
loaves and fishes, the supposed raising of the dead, 
the supposed calming of the sea, together with the 
supposed miraculous birth of Jesus and a few other 
phenomena of a similar character, all of which are 
open to the doubts of skeptics, are about the only re- 
corded phenomena that do not occur with modern me- 
diums. Therefore, as these other phenomena just men- 
tioned are not certainly proven to have occurred ; and 
if they were true, even to the raising of the dead, they 
do not, according to scripture, prove the ''Eternal God" 
in the flesh as their author; the proof that Jesus of 
Nazareth was God is very much lacking. 

If Jesus had removed a few mountains, or created 
a few worlds, or produced something more appropriate 
to, or more like the work of Almighty God, and con- 
sequently less like the works of men, and spmts, it 
would have been more convincing to the minds of 
people of good reasoning powers. 

All facts of scripture being considered, does it not 
appear to the unbiased that the honest seeker for 
truth, that the real provable facts recorded in the Bible 
upon which the church bases its claims of the Deity of 
Jesus are the spiritual phenomena that occurred in his 
presence, much of which is identically the same as the 
phenomena produced through his disciples and other 
mediums of earlier days, as also through the mediums 
of this day, and under crucial test conditions made by 
leading scientists of the world? 

Then again, if he did produce all of the phenomena 
that are accorded to him in the scriptures, do those 



168 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

things actually demonstrate the truth of his being 
''God of the Universe/' endowed with all power, in- 
finite in wisdom, unerring, and Almighty? 

''Come, now, let us reason together'' (Isaiah), "The 
truth shall make you free" (Jesus). 

If it could be proven that Jesus was brought into the 
world without the assistance of an earthly father ; that 
he walked on the water one night, fed five thousand 
people one day with only a few loaves and fishes, 
cursed a fig-tree and it died, and the few other such 
remarkable things attributed to him by the church; I 
say if these things had actually occurred with Jesus, 
they would come a long way short of proving that he 
was "God," "the Creator," as claimed by the Christian 
creeds. 

In deifying Jesus, is not the Christian church limit- 
ing Almighty God to the capacities of a mortal man ? 

Can we blame the skeptic for scoffing, when a great 
church of civilized nations maintains and supports 
such unreasonable teachings as the doctrine that Jesus 
of Nazareth was the "Eternal God" ? 

Let us revise the creeds. Let us revise the Bible, 
eliminating everything blasphemous and objectionable 
and all that perverts the reasoning faculties; then let 
us present the beautiful spiritual truths of scripture in 
their purity and sweetness to an humble, honest, truth- 
loving and truth-seeking humanity, truthfully explain- 
ing that it is a more or less accurate traditional record 
of a primitive and uncivilized people. 

Who, Then, Was Jesus of Nazareth? 
After carefully considering the testimony given by 
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, and other 
disciples and apostles, some of whom are reported to 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 169 

have lived with Jesus and knew him personally and 
were his daily companions and co-laborers, and of 
Jesus himself by his own words and works, no other 
sane conclusion can be reached than this : Jesu^ of 
Nazareth was the son of Joseph and Mary, a descend- 
ant from King David, and a grand and spiritual Man, 
a true and powerful Spirit-Medium, who like many 
other deified men and ^'saviors" died martyrs to the 
cause that alone demonstrates a future life for man- 
kind. 

According to the scriptures as quoted in the preced- 
ing chapters, the evidence, and testimony given by him- 
self and his co-workers, their converts and followers, 
Jesus was not the ''Creator of Heaven and Earth,*' 
''Very God," "Eternal God,'' etc., as is claimed by the 
sects of Christendom, but he was a "man," and the 
"son of man," as he often proclaimed himself to be, 
and was richly endowed with spiritual faculties, or 
"gifts," and with a beautiful spiritual nature. 

The phenomena produced through these spiritual 
gifts or faculties are the main facts upon which the 
Christian church bases its belief in his Godship. He 
was spiritually endowed, and was truly divine, in the 
sense in which divinity was granted to other human 
beings by Jesus himself. 

Again referring to Peter's statement it may be said, 
Peter very clearly explains that Jesus was "a man 
approved of God by miracles, wonders and signs," and 
this rational explanation of who and what Jesus of 
Nazareth really was, given by his boon companion and 
daily associate, should have great weight with all un- 
biased seekers after truth. Let us reproduce his words. 
Peter says : 

Acts ii., 22d Verse : ''Ye men of Israel, hear these 



170 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God 
among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which 
God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves 
also know/' 

These miracles, wonders and signs are no proof that 
Jesus was God, but they are certain proof that he was 
a Messiah, a Christ, a spirit-medium. Therefore the 
author's conclusion is that Jesus of Nazareth was a 
man, approved of God by the spirit phenomena pro- 
duced through his harmonious and spiritually devel- 
oped organism ; that he was indeed "our elder brother," 
and lived the beautiful life of one inspired by the 
higher influences of the spiritual realms, taught the 
great and beautiful doctrines of a life beyond the grave, 
and died a martyr to the cause of ancient Spiritualism 
— all this because of the gross ignorance of the people 
of the age in which he lived. 

All honor to this noble character and true reformer, 
who labored so zealously in those ancient days of great 
ignorance and spiritual darkness. His teachings re- 
garding the higher life have blessed the world, even if 
the creeds and acts of some of his followers have not 
always been for the elevation of the race. 

Doubtless many men and many women have been 
touched by his pure spirit and inspired to labor for the 
liberation of the world and the spiritual elevation of 
the race. As he returned to teach, and was seen of 
men ; as he came to Paul and directed his great work ; 
so, no doubt, he has guided many others and will con- 
tinue to bless his kind evermore. So mote it be. 

Prof. Miller's (of Princeton University) Views. 

The Progressive Thinker of Chicago, of Feb. 21, 
1914, quoting the Record-Herald, says : 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 171 

''Biblical accounts of the birth and resurrection of 
Jesus are dismissed as unconvincing by Professor Lu- 
cius Hopkins Miller of the divinity faculty of Prince- 
ton University in an article on 'The Life of Jesus in 
the Light of Modern Criticism.' 

''Professor Miller presents numerous incidents in 
the life of Christ in a setting stripped of the elements 
of mystery contained in the scriptural accounts. The 
educator, who has applied the methods of historical 
criticism of the gospels, asserts that the story arose 
from phenomena which are capable of explanation by 
the lazvs of psychical research and psychology.'' 

Thus Professor Miller voices the author's claim that 
Jesus was a spirit-medium. 

'' 'Jesus' death has been theologized out of all true 
perspective/ he declares. 'The signs and portents, the 
empty grave, the definite period of three days, the 
physical appearances, the forty-day period and the 
ascension — all these may best be put to one side. We 
have to choose between an objectively real but non- 
physical manifestation of the spirit of Jesus and some 
kind of vision theory. * h« * 

" 'However, through the activities of the Society of 
Psychical Research, we have latterly become more ac- 
customed to the thought of the possibility of this sort 
of event. ^ ^ ^ 

" 'The historian does not ask, "How might Jesus 
have been born?'' nor, "How must he have been 
born ?" but simply, "Under what circumstances was he 
born?" Our sources of information do not enable 
us to answer explicitly. It is not clear just when he 
was born, nor where., nor under what circumstances. 
It is certain that this significant event in the history 



172 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

of mankind occurred near the end of the reign of 
Herod the Great, somewhere in what we now call Pal- 
estine. // you should press me for my opinion regard- 
ing further details, I would say that he was probably 
the son of Joseph and Mary and that he was born in 
Nazareth of Galilee! '^ 

This is just what the author has proved by the scrip- 
tures, in the foregoing pages. 

Erroneous Methods of Church Propaganda. 

Many intelligent, sober-minded men and women, 
who possess religious natures and tendencies, keep 
aloof from the Christian church because of the unrea- 
sonable methods of church propaganda used by such 
revivalists as ''Billy" Sunday and his class of money- 
getting Christians. Many good men in the ministry 
are thoroughly disgusted with such church methods 
and express their disgust as did the Rev. Eugene R. 
Shippen, of the First Unitarian Church of Detroit, as 
published in the Detroit Times of March 9, 1914. The 
article reads as follows : 

''The Rev. Eugene R. Shippen, in the First Uni- 
tarian Church, declared from his pulpit Sunday morn- 
ing that 'Detroit wants none of the unspeakable vul- 
garity of Billy Sunday's evangelism, which lowers the 
moral tone of the whole community. We want a re- 
ligion that is at once rational and warm, ethical and 
spiritual. The religion of Jesus, not Christianity as 
commonly taught, is a religion transforming individual 
character and intolerable social conditions.' " 

Many men do not espouse the cause of present-day 
Christianity because of its creedal inconsistencies, but 
who would gladly accept its lofty ideals and principles 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 173 

if they were not supposed to endorse and accept those 
teachings that are not in accord with their reason. 
Jesus of Nazareth was an example of truth, courage 
and sincerity, one whom anyone could follow if it were 
not for the dogmatic and erroneous creeds built up 
around him. 

A Plea for the Innocent Sabbath-School Children. 

As has been clearly shown by the scriptures, accord- 
ing to Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Jesus him- 
self and others, there is absolutely no proof of the 
claim that Jesus of Nazareth was God; and there is 
absolute proof, if the scriptures are true, that he was 
a highly endowed and spiritually developed man and 
spirit-medium. 

Therefore we beseech all good and true church 
workers to cease teaching the innocent Sabbath-school 
children the great error that Jesus was God, and that 
they teach them the truth as shown in the scriptures 
and proved in this work, namely, that he was a man, 
born into this world as other men are born, inheriting 
a fine physical, mental and spiritual organism, and was 
highly endowed with both the mental and physical 
phases of spirit-mediumship. 

All good Christians should become strong enough to 
stand for the truth, since Jesus said, 'The truth shall 
make you free" (John viii., 32). 

In behalf of the adult members of the Christian 
church, we ask that their minds may be liberated, that 
they may become free from the superstitious bondage 
in which the belief in this dogma holds them. 

And last, this appeal is made in the hope that it may 
aid in the dispensation of the splendid spiritual teach- 



174 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

ings of the grand man of Nazareth, in their purity ; 
that they be not choked by the weeds of dogma and 
the tares of superstition; that his spiritual examples 
and precepts may shine the brighter, and reach out 
farther in their illuminating power, touching the sci- 
entific minds and attracting them away from their ma- 
terialistic allurements, as well as all other classes who 
feel that their reasoning powers would be stultified by 
accepting the dogma of the Deity of Jesus. 

The People Are Thinking. 

The thinkers of the world are its true saviors; be- 
cause he who thinks and gives expression to his 
thought causes others who may not be good thinkers 
to take notice, and then their thinking powers begin to 
develop. Modem Spiritualism has let loose a vast 
army of thinkers on the world and they have set the 
world thinking. 

The following article appeared in the Detroit Times 
of February 2, 1914 : 

"Rockfeller's Pastor Denies Christ Is God. 

*'San Francisco, Feb. 2. — Local ministers today an- 
nounced they will answer next Sunday the sermon de- 
livered by Rev. Charles Aked, John D. Rockefeller's 
former pastor, yesterday, in which he denied that 
Christ was God. Dr. Aked is now pastor of a local 
church. It IS said many members of Aked's own con- 
gregation disapprove of his views. 

"Dr. Aked also expressed doubt of the doctrine of 
the miraculous birth of Christ. The Apostles Mark, 
John, James and Paul do not refer to any such birth, 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 175 

he said. Luke does, but the preacher declared he got 
his information from Matthew, who, in his gospels, 
spoke in one place of a miraculous birth and in an- 
other said Joseph was the father of Christ. 

''No Bible writer declared Christ is God, said Aked, 
and he believed the idea was due entirely to man-made 
creeds. He believes, however, that there is something 
of the divine in everybody and that Christ was the 
most divine of all." 

Dr. Aked is but one of a large class of men who are 
thinking, and he has the courage of his convictions ; he 
shows his independence and manliness by giving forth 
his honest conclusions. He denies that Christ was God, 
just as the scripture quoted in this work plainly shows ; 
and he expresses doubt of the miraculous birth of the 
Nazarene, just as this work makes clear and brings 
proof of this untruth and impossibility. There are 
thousands of honest and honorable men in the pulpits 
and in the pews of our churches who have these same 
convictions, but not all are endowed with courage to 
openly express them. This is indeed a pitiful state of 
things; but fortunately there are other thousands like 
Reverend Aked who are not slaves to their creeds, and 
openly preach and freely express their real convictions. 
It is such men as these to whom the world owes its 
advancement in the realm of religion. 

Scripture Writers Err. 

More than half a century had passed since Jesus 
died before a word was written about him. 

If the writers of the scriptures had understood the 
nature of the Nazarene's faculties and powers, and 
had not been so credulous of the exaggerated reports 



176 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

of his works, they would have written differently in 
some respects, no doubt. 

If they had sought to verify the traditional stories 
of his works, or had given tradition credit for such 
stories, they would have saved the world much sorrow 
and suffering; and if the church fathers had not 
sought to make the New Testament writing ''infallible 
and unerring'' by attributing them to the inspiration of 
God controlling the writers of these traditional stories, 
then the world would have known the truth, and would 
have been made free. 

Then would the people have been able to turn to the 
real spiritual phenomena, that were recorded as occur- 
ring in the presence of Jesus, his apostles and disciples, 
and with truth for authority, and with unbiased minds, 
they would work out the problem of a future life for 
mankind, truly and scientifically, just as it has now 
been done by the spirit-teachings and demonstrations 
of Modern Spiritualism. 

Just here it should be remembered that the phenom- 
ena of the conception and birth of a child without the 
material aid of a human father, the feeding of a mul- 
titude with a few loaves and fishes ; the walking on the 
water with one's bare feet, or at best only a pair of 
sandals ; and the wind and the waves obeying the com- 
mand of a man, have never been duplicated in the eigh- 
teen hundred years that have intervened between this 
and the time that these so-called miracles were sup- 
posed to have occurred, and Jesus said, ''And these 
signs shall follow them that believe." Mark xvi-17. 

And "He that believeth on me, the works that I do 
shall he do also ; and greater works than these shall he 
do, because I go unto my father." John xiv., 12. Has 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 177 

one of his accredited believers produced a single one 
of these miracles in the eighteen centuries that have 
gone by since these prophecies were made? 

It should be known, to all who wish to know, that 
much of the other phenomena of a spiritual nature 
that are attributed to the works of Jesus by the New 
Testament writers have been reproduced in all parts 
of the world in every century since the death of the 
Nazarene. These latter phenomena are the phenom- 
ena of Spiritualism, and are being continued today the 
world over, through spirit-mediums, which prove many 
of the traditional stories regarding them as possibly 
true. 

Testimony of Jesus Himself Says He Is the 
Offspring of David. 

Let us listen to the testimony of Jesus himself. 

After his death he came to John the Revelator as a 
spirit and gave him the following message : Rev. 
xxii., 16: ''I, Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto 
you these things in the churches. I am the root and 
THE OFFSPRING OF David, and the bright and morning 
star." 

Now, according to this statement of the spirit Jesus 
himself, David was his forefather, and if so, Joseph 
was his father; and if Joseph was the real father of 
Jesus, the Holy Ghost was not his father, because two 
males, ghosts or men, cannot both be the real fathers 
of one child. 

The scripture's testimony is clear. The jury, if 
just, must decide in favor of the facts which are, that 
Jesus of Nazareth, according to scripture was the son 
of man, as he himself always claimed, and that he 



178 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

was born of woman according to nature's laws, as all 
other children of earth are born; that Joseph was his 
father, that he was a human being, a mortal man, and 
was not "Very God," "Almighty God," "God the Son," 
the "very and eternal God," and that "by Christ the 
world was created," as declared by the different ortho- 
dox Christian creeds. 

Should it take all of the scripture quoted in this 
work to convince any Christian not entirely bereft of 
reason, that Joseph was the natural father of Jesus, 
and that Jesus was not Almighty God? 

Should it require more scripture references to prove 
to any sincere Bible believer that the Christian religion 
as taught and demonstrated by the Noble Nazarene 
himself, rests absolutely upon the fact of spirit com- 
munion, spirit phenomena, and spirit mediumship? If 
so, hundreds more passages of scripture may be men- 
tioned to prove it : 

The Finite Cannot Comprehend the Infinite. 
What does man comprehend of the power and great- 
ness of the Supreme Being? What does he realize of 
the vastness of His mighty universe ? He knows abso- 
lutely nothing. Oh, how very childish men have been 
to endow a man with the mighty and complete attrib- 
utes of Infinite Intelligence, Infinite Knowledge, Infin- 
ite Wisdom and Infinite Power ! Think of it ! A man, 
a poor, weak dependent man, the God of this universe ! 
A man possessing all the powers of the Creator; Om- 
niscient, knowing all things; Omnipresent, present in 
all places at the same time ; Omnipotent, all-powerful, 
almighty! How unreasonable! 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 179 

The True Verdict. 

There are no witnesses to be found in the scriptures 
who testify that Jesus was ''Eternal God"; Jesus him- 
self makes no such claim, as we have amply proven in 
our defense of the Noble Man of Narazeth ; therefore, 
the witnesses having testified, our readers are the jury 
who must decide the case. The evidence is overwhelm- 
ing, and the true verdict must be as follows : Jesus of 
Nazareth was a man born of earthly parents, and his 
works demonstrate that he was a spirit-medium. God 
rules His universe and all is well. Jesus is our ''elder 
brother!' 

And in conclusion w^e will say : According to scrip- 
ture, Jesus of Nazareth was a man, a noble man, a 
wonderful medium, and a martyr to the cause of the 
truths of Spiritualism, which he taught and demon- 
strated, and of which his beautiful daily life was an 
example. These great spiritual truths were, and are, 
the fundamentals of all religions. For teaching and 
demonstrating these spiritual truths, he suffered death 
at the hands of his persecutors whose dense ignorance 
and spiritual blindness prohibited their comprehending 
the teachings and precepts for which he gave his 
blessed life. Noble soul ! Beautiful spirit ! His prayer 
to God in his last dying moments was : 'Tather, for- 
give them for they know not what they do.'^ (Luke 
xxiii., 34.) 

Let us forget that some of the wisest men of the 
world were ever so childish as to deify a man, and 
henceforth let us study natural truths and abide with- 
in the laws of nature, thus coming nearer to the Great 
Cause of all. 



180 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

A Prayer to the Great First Cause. 

BY REV. E. W. SPRAGUE. 

Thou Source of Life, canst hear my prayer? 
Thou must be near, if everywhere. 
I pray that I more truth may see 
And thus come nearer unto Thee. 

I live! This truth is evident; 

Then Thou must live who my life sent. 

I know ! Though little, even so ; 

Then Thou, my Author, too, must know. 

Eyes Thou hast given unto me. 
Therefore, I reason, Thou canst see. 
Ears I possess, so it seems clear 
That Thou, who formed them, too, must hear. 

Am I a part of all there be ? 
If so, I am a part of Thee. 
My soul's athirst for better light 
That I may guided be aright. 

Thou Great Cause ! I turn to Thee, 

1 pray more of Thy truths to see. 
Thy wondrous forces, laws divine. 
Are they for me ? Are they all mine ? 

O, Cause of Causes! Soul of Things! 
Majestic Power! Thy music rings 
Through vibrant space where none have trod. 
We know Thee not, but call Thee God. 



Books by Rev* £• W. Sprague 



A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED 

OR 

TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS A PUBLIC 

MEDIUM 

'pHE AUTHOR and his good wife are well- 
known workers in the cause of Spiritualism 
. and have many dear friends throiis:hout the 

land. They SERVED THE NATIONAL SPIR- 
llTUALISTS' ASSOCIATION FOR THIRTEEN 
f CONSECUTIVE YEARS AS MISSIONARIES, 
I visiting a large majority of the states of the 
' Union, holding seances, giving lectures, and 

exercising their mediumship from the public 

rostrum. 

The book contains a brief sketch of the 
author's early life, giving details regarding the 
development of his own and Mr^. Sprag-e's 
mediumship. It is replete with detailed 
records of spirit manifestations, communica- 
tions, tests and messages which were given to 
hundreds in the presence of thousands of 
people throughout the country. 

Mr. Sprague's wide experience, both with h''^. 
own mediumship and that of Mrs. Sprague's, 
as well as with many other mediums, for more 
than a third of a century, gives strength to his 
claims. He declares that if these recorded 
facts do not demonstrate a future life it is 
useless to look for accurate proof of anythinp-, 
or to try to demonstrate the simplest fact in 
nature as being certainly true. 

The book contains 362 pages of closely 
printed matter, also excellent portraits of Mr. 
and Mrs. Sprague. It is handsomely bound in 
cloth. Price, postage paid, $1|». 



SPIRIT MEDIUMSHIP 

ITS VARIOUS PHASES— HOW DEVELOPED 

AND SAFELY PRACTICED. 

A Compendium of Psychic Science for Seances^ 

Circles, Psychic Classes and IndivjHua' L's^e 

— The Medium's Companion and Guide. 



In publishing this book the author hopes to 
be of some assistance in eliminating the absurd 
and ridiculous vagaries that have become at- 
tached to Spiritualism and mediumf^.hip ; and to 
assist in counteracting the extravagant and 
unjupt claims of some of its opponents regard- 
ing "The dangers of Psychism," or the practice 
of mediumship; but most of all, to give encoi-r- 
agement and assistance to mediums in their 
laudable efforts to unfold the beautiful faculty 
of mediumship. Modern Spirit-Mediumship i3 
the rock upon which Spiritualism rests. 

It is therefore true that the de^relcpment of 
a sale and Fane mediumship is cf the most 
vital importance. 

This work is a text book of Psychic Science 
designed for use in developing circles and 
psychic classes. 

It contains 137 pages, also an excellent por- 
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embossed in gold. Price, postage paid, $1.25. 



SPIRIT OBSESSION 

A FALSE DOCTRINE- AND A MENACE TO 
MODERN SPIRITUALISM 



The doctrine of SPIRIT OBSESSION is the 
child of ancient witchcraft and has no legiti- 
mate place in Modern Spiritualism. 

Some Spiritualists are teaching this false 
doctrine; and many opponents of Spiritualism 
are vigorously promulgating it in their insane 



desire to destroy this heaven-born spiritual 
philosophy; and it is high time that the spirit- 
ualists awoke to the fact that this ancient 
superstition is- doing great injury to their 
cause. Every Spiritualist should inform him- 
self thoroughly upon the subject, and be pre- 
pared to meet the foes of Spiritualism with the 
facts, showing that Spirit Obsession is as false 
as the Christian doctrine of the devil and 
eternal punishment; that both theories origi- 
nated in the poorly developed brain of our 
primitive ancestors. 

This book contains 153 pages, a good por- 
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embossed in gold. Price, postage paid, $1.25, 



PAMPHLETS 
Reincarnation — True or False? 



ARE THE THEOSOPHIC CLAIiVIS OF RE- 

INCARNATION PROVEN BY MODERN 

SCIENCE AND THE SPIR- 

ITUAL PHILOSOPHY? 

The author for years has been investigating 
the subject of reincarnation. He is a ^inc^r^^ 
seeker for evidence and proof of its truth. He 
has met and listened to leading Theo'^ophist'"^. 
some Spiritualists and others who believed in 
and taught the doctrine of reincarnation. I^e 
has interviewed mortals and spirits, visited 
mummies, etc., in search of facts regardinsr the 
subject, and he gives the reader the benefit of 
his investigations. 

The subject is approached from manv dif- 
ferent viewpoints. Quota^tions from leading 
writers, teahcers and thinkers are free'' ^ ^'-n 
dulged in. The claim that some person"^ retn'n 
memories of former lives is thoroughly ex- 
plained and accounted for as are other strange 
and mysterious beliefs upon which reincarna- 
tion is based. The book is for our teachers, 
ministers, mediums and for all who are seeking 
actual knowledge regarding the matter. 
Price, postage paid, 40 cents: 



Adventism and the Devil 



AN OPEN LETTER, AND REPLY TO EVAN- 
GELIST A. V. COTTON'S DENUN- 
CIATION OF SPIRITUALISM. 



The Adventists, Russellites and some others 
calling themselves Christians, are avowed foes 
of Modern Spiritualism. They neglect no 
opportunity to condemn it. They preach 
against it periodically. Their published works 
teem with condemnation and misrepresenta- 
tion of this, the only scientifically proven re- 
ligion. They have published numbers of books 
unjustly condemning Spiritualism and have 
circulated them broadcast. 

This book exposes their false clair^s by 
showing that the Bible teaches Spirit 
that the devil is not the author of t 
nomena of Spiritualism, etc., etc. 

Price, postage paid, 35 cents. 



TESTIIVIONIES OF LEADING SCIENTISTS 

AND THEOLOGIANS V/HO ARE 

BELIEVERS IN SPIRITUALISM. 

Price, postage paid, 15 cents. 



?;^ 



THE SCIENCE OF SPIRIT 
COMMUNION 

ANALYZED AND EXPLAINED 
Price, postage paid, 15 cents. 

ADDRESS: REV. E. W. SPRAGUE. 
-254- W. CANFIELD AVE., DETROIT, MICH. 



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